The Central Intelligence Agency and Overhead Reconnaissance; The U-2 and OXCART Programs, 1954-1974

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63
SacFat NQFOAN
Chapter 2
MC-2 partial-pressure suit (seen
on pilot Francis Gary Powers)
advanced gear for the U-2 pilots. David Clark expert Joseph Rus•!ckas
then developed a complex life-support system, which was the first
partially pressurized "spacesuit" for keeping humans alive for
lengthy periods at ultrahigh altitudes. The effort to provide a safe en­
vironment for pilots at high altitudes also involved the Fi1rewel
Company of Buffalo, New York, which pressurized the U-2 cockpit to
create an interior environment equivalent to the air pressure at an alti­
tude of 28,000 feet. The system was designed so that, if the interior
cockpit pressure fell below the 28,000-feet level, the pilot's suit
would automatically inflate. In either case, he could obtain oxygen
only through his helmet.·~
"' Ibid .. chap. 5. p. 19 (TS Codeword).
Secret