Each of the PLSS had two columns of
horizontal Velcro strips on the
back. Ken Thomas, a member of Hamilton Sundstrand's Space
Hardware
Heritage Team and author of U.S.
Spacesuits (2006, Springer-Praxis),
writes "The white cover - or Thermal Meteoroid Garment - on the
PLSS
was designed and fabricated by Hamilton Standard (now Hamilton
Sundstrand), Windsor Locks, CT. In zero gravity, if an astronaut
wished to look out the Lunar Module windows, he would have difficulty
keeping position. Where his feet would be was the rack where the
CDR
PLSS and both OPSs were stored. In zero-G simulations, someone damaged
an antennae on an OPS mounted in the rack of the simulator."
Pre-flight photo of the Apollo
11 CDR PLSS and OPSs
stowed on the bulkhead aft of Neil's station.
"Because the astronauts were already
wearing booties with Velcro hook
on the bottoms, patches of Velcro pile could be placed on the back of
the CDR PLSS
and the tops of the OPSs to provide a crew member with places to anchor
his feet so he would not floating around and potentially damaging
things while he was doing visual positioning or recreational star
gazing. Once the Velcro was there, additional uses for sample
bags and
tool pouches were found as the missions evolved." The LMP's PLSS
was
stowed on the cabin floor next to the hatch. These also had
Velcro
strips, perhaps in the interest of interchangability.