Almost 50 years after an Apollo Spacewalk, a long-lost flat cable harness returned back home to Cicoil. The “bio-harness” assembly, built by Cicoil for the 1969 Apollo 9 Space Flight, was acquired by Cicoil in a NASA Apollo Space Program Auction. Amazingly, the harness looks virtually brand-new, considering its age and the number of miles it has travelled.

The 26 inch long electrical biomedical harness was worn by Commander Jim McDivitt during the Apollo 9 flight, that launched into orbit on March 3 and returned to Earth 10 days later. Typically, the “Bio-Harness” was worn underneath the Intra-Vehicular Constant Wear Garment when in the spacecraft, and under the extra-vehicular (EV) pressure suit during spacewalk activities. 

The assembly enabled continuous monitoring of vital signs, such as blood pressure, respiration, body temperature and pulse rate for each astronaut during flight, orbit and spacewalk operations. In addition to Commander McDivitt, astronauts David Scott and Rusty Schweickart also utilized bio-harnesses made by Cicoil on the Apollo 9 Space Mission as well.

Cicoil’s space flight approved bio-medical instrumentation and telemetry harnesses were chosen for their unique ability to separately encase shielded signal pairs to eliminate electronic interference; provide uninterrupted signal integrity during the harsh rigors of space flight; exceptional performance when exposed to temperature extremes (-65°C to +260°C); resistance to UV Light, radiation and vibration; high efficiency in dissipating heat between inner cable components; highly flexible and lightweight materials; and high reliability in mission critical applications. 

The flawless operational performance of Cicoil’s biomedical instrumentation and telemetry harness designs were, in NASA’s words, “Vital to the successful achievement” of these history-making flights."

Cicoil’s flat cable harnesses were also there to help Astronaut John Glenn (Mercury-Atlas 6) to become the first American to orbit the Earth, Edward White (Gemini 4) to be the First American to walk in space, Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11) to take his historical “First Step” on the surface of the moon and Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11) to take his infamous second walk on the Moon.

In addition to every Apollo space flight, Cicoil has manufactured cable assemblies for the Mercury and Gemini space missions, Skylab, Mercury Voyager, the Space Shuttle, Tri-Athlete Lunar Vehicle, the Mars Rover; and today are utilized on space transport rockets and satellites.

For an out of this world experience, be sure to check out the Cicoil bio-harnesses worn on the Apollo 9, 11 and 17 missions at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. 

If you would like to learn how Cicoil developed the First IDC Ribbon Cable, helped put a Man on the Moon, and find out more about our Innovative Flat Cable Technology, please contact our office at 661-295-1295 to discuss your application or to set up an on-site visit to your location.