Apollo 11 Astronaut Shaving: Pictures and Video

[43moon]

I used to be so amazed to watch video of the men going to the moon. I was watching something about the Apollo missions on TV tonight and I saw one of the astronauts shaving. That prompted me to look for the video online, and I found it:

Here is the link to the video:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/video/apollo/apollo11/mpg/apollo11_onbclip16.mpg

After digging around, I found a picture of their razor and Old Spice Brushless Shaving Cream:

I assume that their razors may have been custom made for the trips. Does anyone know who made them?

First to shave in space: The Apollo 10 crew became the first to shave in space in May 1969. After electric shavers with vacumn attachments didn't work in testing, the astronauts used brushless shaving cream and standard safety razors on their flight and they worked well, even catching the loose whiskers.

 

[43moon]

I found the answer to my own question. The Apollo astronauts used the Gillette Techmatic razors.

 

[nuovorecord]

Cool post. I loved watching all the Apollo missions when I was a kid.

 

[KenS]

I was watched that program also. When I saw the Techmatic I remembered using that razor myself...and cutting myself often as well :-(
Ken.

 

[JHouse]

thats pretty interesting. thanks for the post. does anyone know what they do now?

 

[brz90]

Around this time I stopped using my long handled super adjustable and "traded up" to a techmatic. I stepped off the one true narrow path and for the last however many years have followed Gillette's pursuit of shaving "excellence" through more and more plastic and more and more blades.
These guys have a lot to answer for! I can't believe they fooled me into sticking with a techmatic after using a super adjustable.

 

[frank85]

Great Pictures

 

[43moon]

Around this time I stopped using my long handled super adjustable and "traded up" to a techmatic. I stepped off the one true narrow path and for the last however many years have followed Gillette's pursuit of shaving "excellence" through more and more plastic and more and more blades.
These guys have a lot to answer for! I can't believe they fooled me into sticking with a techmatic after using a super adjustable.

Well, if it helps...I started on the Excel, went through the Mach 3's, and then hit rock bottom with an electric. I jumped back towards the blades by buying a Fusion. After 2 shaves and when the sticker shock wore off from shopping for replacement blades, I realized that it was time to look for something better. And here I am today. We may have lost our way, but we eventually found shaving redemption and that is all that matters now.

 

[Gruder]

Great post. Thanks! Wonder what is used today? (I'm guessing something with, ahem, more blades )

 

[castlecraver]

From the Canadian Space Agency

Shaving in space is similar to shaving on Earth; astronauts just have to be careful not to let stray whiskers escape into the air. Astronauts shave with foam or an electric razor, but most prefer the latter, because it doesn't require water and automatically collects hair.

While on short duration flights astronauts don't require a haircut, on longer flights some astronauts need a trim. They cut their hair the same way as on Earth, but use a vacuum device so that stray hairs do not to float away. (ed. read: FLOWBEE!)

 

[Gruder]

Thanks Pat! Makes sense, I suppose, though the Canadian shave setup pics we saw last week had me thinking differently...

 

[GarageBoy]

Why bother grooming?

 

[King of Kailua]

That thing looks like a Gillette Techmatic. A gawd awful razor!

 

[Aevum]

i always wondered how a rolled up blade can be held at sufficient straight tension to give a proper shave by a simple plastic mechanism,

 

[GarageBoy]

It probably didn't hence it was discontinued

 

[Bflobill 1125]

As a kid I remember my Dad having one of those Techmatics for a while. An early Gillette attempt to increase profits..........they should have stopped at the Super Speed!

 

[AlanL]

That razor and cream are now on display in the National Air and Space Museum. According to their site, the Techmatic was not NASA-issued, but rather a personal choice of Collins.

 

[skembomatt]

What a cool thread. I have heard about space making the most normal tasks difficult. I wonder how thay rinced the blades or how they preped their faces.
Cool topic.

 

[solar]

What a great post! I'm a huge fan of the NASA Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. These came about as a result of the cold war, where supremacy of economy, military and society--real and perceived--were huge issues. It led to Kennedy pledging to send a man to the moon and to "...bring him home safely..." by the end of the 60's decade. What an order.

The Apollo program seemed to me to be a culmination of what man is capable of when drive, focus, ability and resources--resources gained from the greatest free market economy in history--can do when a clear cut goal is set in front of the best people for the job in the world. People who look for solutions, not problems, people who overcome, and don't whine and sit on the floor in frustration, people who refuse to give up.

So, to see Collins in space, refusing to sport the growth that most astronauts put up with is great. He actually devised a way to shave in zero gravity, with Old Spice yet!

Great post, thanks for finding those pix,

Best,

Chris

 

[DunEdinRanger]

Well, if it helps...I started on the Excel, went through the Mach 3's, and then hit rock bottom with an electric. I jumped back towards the blades by buying a Fusion. After 2 shaves and when the sticker shock wore off from shopping for replacement blades, I realized that it was time to look for something better. And here I am today. We may have lost our way, but we eventually found shaving redemption and that is all that matters now.

We were lost but now are found, and like the Prodigal Son have returned.

Thanks for a great thread.