Russell Sidney Colley (July 22, 1897 – February 4, 1996) was a U. S. mechanical engineer who played a role in creating the spacesuits worn by the Project Mercury astronauts, including fitting Alan B. Shepard Jr. for his historic ride as America's first man in space on May 5, 1961.
In 1934, Colley was handed a new assignment: help pioneering pilot Wiley Post reach the jet stream and break new altitude records.
[3] All six original Mercury astronauts went to Akron to be fitted by Colley for their suits, which were two-ply silver nylon coated with neoprene.
After Shepard's flight aboard Freedom 7, the Akron press dubbed Colley "First Tailor of the Space Age" and Goodrich saluted him as "Father of the Spacesuit".
When he retired from NASA, he returned to Ohio, where he practiced jewelry design with his exquisite gem cuts, featured in The Lapidary Journal.
A watercolor artist, Colley was an original member of the Whiskey Painters of America, founded in 1951 in Akron by industrial designer Joe Ferriot.