Masiello, Leonard N.

Preferred Name: Lenny
Nickname/Call Sign: Rocco
Date of Birth: February 16, 1941
Highest Military Grade: 0-5 – Lieutenant Colonel
View of Leonard N. Masiello (Hamilton Standard employee) wearing a a prototype Apollo space suit, Fall 1966. Taken at Hamilton Standard in Windsor Locks, Connecticut

In 1966, Leonard N. “Lenny” Masiello was an employee of Hamilton Standard who was preparing to enter U.S. Air Force pilot training.

In the early part of that year, Masiello was approached by Dr. Vance Marchbanks, Jr. and was asked to assist in testing the Apollo space suit. Masiello participated in numerous tests of the suit, aided by his excellent physical condition, which contributed to the final design. One round of testing, held at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, was attended by active and former astronauts including John Herschel Glenn, Jr.; John Leonard Swigert, Jr.; Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr.; and Virgil Ivan “Gus” Grissom.

Masiello left Hamilton Standard in late 1966 to enter pilot training, after which he was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force for 22 years before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

source:https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/apollo-space-suit-testing-photographs-masiello-1966