Joseph W. Schmitt

Joseph W. Schmitt (January 2, 1916 – September 25, 2017) was a spacesuit technician for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration human space exploration program in the 1960s and 70s. As "suit tech", he was on close terms with the astronauts and was usually the last person to have direct contact with them before their missions. Schmitt suited up Alan Shepard for his mission at the beginning of Project Mercury and continued to work on the Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs, ending his career during the early Space Shuttle Program. As an essential part of the final stages of preparation for space flight, Schmitt was depicted in many photographs, leading to his inclusion in two works on the subject by Norman Rockwell.