page_title: Pressure suit
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Pressure suit / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: NASA test pilot Joe Walker in pressure suit with X-1E.
context_page_description: A pressure suit is a protective suit worn by high-altitude pilots who may fly at altitudes where the air pressure is too low for an unprotected person to survive, even breathing pure oxygen at positive pressure. Such suits may be either full-pressure or partial-pressure. Partial-pressure suits work by providing mechanical counter-pressure to assist breathing at altitude.
context_section_description: In the US, a large amount of effort was put into the development of pressure suits during World War II. While B.F. Goodrich led the field, other companies involved in such research included the Arrowhead Rubber Co., Goodyear, and US Rubber. The University of Minnesota worked with Bell Aircraft and the US National Bureau of Standards. The Bureau of Standards and the University of California acted as clearing houses to distribute information to all the companies involved. No effective fully mobile pressure suits were produced in World War II but the effort provided a valuable basis for later development.
caption: Joe Walker in an early Air Force partial pressure suit
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