67. MILLS: From Cotton Cloth to Space Age Textiles

Weird Island

While researching RI mills, I came across this one little snippet about the Ashton Mill in Cumberland, and had to know more: “Owens-Corning Fiberglas Company bought the mill... They operated in the mill until 1983. They made tire cord, drapery, and beta cloth for spacesuits for the Apollo Moon missions.”

Episode Source Material:

• Address at Rice University in Houston, Texas on the Nation's Space Effort, 12 September 1962 | JFK Library
• We choose to go to the Moon - Wikipedia
• Beta cloth - Wikipedia
• BA 500BC / CF500 F (Beta Cloth, Beta Fabric) – Bron Aerotech
• Popular Science | November 1967
• Comparison of Observed Beta Cloth Interactions with Simulated and Actual Space Environment
• Beta Cloth Durability Assessment for Space Station Freedom (SSF) Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI) Blanket Covers
• Apollo Applications of Beta Fiber Glass
• Lunar Dust Effects on Spacesuit Systems
• Man in Machine: Apollo-Era Space Suits as Artifacts of Technology and Culture | Douglas N. Lantry
• APOLLO SPACE SUIT
• Journeying to the Moon in a Suit of Glass | Behind the Glass
• Tensile Fabrics Enhance Architecture Around the World | NASA Spinoff
• Owens Corning 2019 Sustainability Report
• Our History
• Owens Corning - Wikipedia
• Owens-Corning Records, 1938-Present , MSS-222
• OWENS-CORNING MILESTONES
• Coated Membrane Materials for Use in Construction of Stressed Membrane Structures
• Beta Cloth Patches
• 50 Years on, Apollo 11 Spacesuit Continues to Influence Imaginations and New Designs | KQED
• Textiles in space - Textile Technology Source
• Space Mission Patches - About Patches
• Toledo's Owens Corning made Apollo 11 spacesuits possible | The Blade

If you want to know more about: Playtex and Space Suits

• Playtex - Wikipedia
• What Did Playtex Have to Do With Neil Armstrong? | Arts & Culture| Smithsonian Magazine
• The seamstresses who helped put a man on the moon: When NASA needed a lunar spacesuit, they turned to the women who sewed girdles and bras for Playtex - CBS News
• How Playtex Helped Win the Space Race | Mental Floss

The Apollo 1 & the Space Race:

• Apollo 1 - Wikipedia
• The Legacy of the Apollo 1 Disaster | Science| Smithsonian Magazine
• Apollo to the Moon: A History in 50 Objects
• The Space Race: Timeline, Cold War & Facts - HISTORY
• Apollo | History, Missions, Significance, & Facts | Britannica
• How Apollo 11 Raised The Flag On The Moon, And What It Means Today
• Where No Flag Has Gone Before:
• How the race to the Moon–with an assist from pop culture–changed the meaning of the word 'technology'
• Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences

Ashton Mill

• Ashton - Blackstone River Valley
• Labor news clippings, 22 scrapbooks, 1867-1902
• National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form