Style For The Space Age
The organization's deep military roots made uniforms extremely important to NASA, for astronauts in space and crews on the ground.
Museum Exhibit: NASA Lab Coat
The item displayed here is an original, shuttle-era, NASA lab coat. One hundred percent Bacrow Polyester lab coat with a zip-up front and manufacturer’s label sewn into the collar; it features a 7.5 inch NASA patch and another 2.5 inch version sewn on the left shoulder. This emerald green knee-length lab coat was the color worn by an Inspector.
The Clean Uniform
Though we think of scientists wearing lab coats at work all the time, the fact is few NASA personnel wear lab coats on a daily basis. The exception to this would be in clean rooms and the so-called “White Room”, (the last room astronauts pass through before boarding the shuttle). Technicians working in these tightly confined spaces would have worn white lab coats or coveralls with the goal of keeping everything as clean as possible. And even then, many of the technicians who do wear lab coats are from NASA contractor organizations, such as the Thiokol Corporation of Brigham City, Utah, who built the Solid Rocket Boosters of the shuttle program.