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AIR-LOCK, INCORPORATED
A Brief History
Air-Lock’s business operations have been supporting leading-edge aviation and space programs for well over half a century now and we are presently developing the hardware technology base upon which future generations of air and space crews will rely for protection.
Specialized sealed Air-Lock connectors and bearings have been critical components of pressure suits worn by pilots of virtually all high-altitude aircraft since the late 1940s, including the X-1, U-2 Dragon Lady, X-15, RB-57, XB-70, NF-104, F-106, F-4, F-15, HL-10, X-24, and SR-71 Blackbird. In addition, all spacesuits worn by NASA’s Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Shuttle astronauts have employed Air-Lock hardware. The extraordinary quality and reliability of Air-Lock products is perhaps best epitomized by the polycarbonate “bubble” pressure helmet and visor assemblies it developed for the Apollo spacesuit program and continues to provide environmental protection for Shuttle and International Space Station space-walking astronauts.
The range of Air-Lock’s products has expanded over the years to include specialized hardware for a wide variety of life support systems, including survival kits, oxygen systems, life rafts, and chemical-biological protective systems. Similarly, the variety of materials processed at Air-Lock has expanded to include conventional and exotic metals, thermoplastic and thermoset resins, composites, optical transparencies, coatings and elastomers.
With the capability to design, develop, and manufacture under one roof, utilizing state-of-the-art equipment, Air-Lock is able to provide hardware of the highest quality and reliability for use in increasingly demanding and hazardous environments.
Air-Lock remains committed to helping expand the envelope of human performance in hazardous environments as new technologies allow, and we look forward to the new hardware challenges presented by future space exploration and emerging commercial space ventures.
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