why didn't Pete realize the length was too short during the initial suit up?Conrad explains it in the
technical debrief and in discussion in the
ALSJ.
Conrad (Technical Debrief): I made a technical error before I left when the suits were sent back to ILC and the boots were put on. We knew that we had to refit the suits, and I let myself get conned into refitting my suit in long underwear and not with the LCG because the flight LCG was PIAed. ( PIA = Preinstallation Acceptance. ) That was a mistake. I wound up with the legs being too tight. I realized this prior to lift-off while staying in the suit for a long time. I had spent only about an hour or so before in it fitting it in my long underwear, but it became unbearable that night. It spoiled my rest period. I did not want to take the suit off so I stayed that way all night. I slept only about 4 hours, and it was mainly because of suit discomfort on my shoulders. The next morning, Al did an outstanding job on letting my legs out for me, which took him about an hour.
Bean - ALSJ: You think it was because the suit was adjusted wrong or because you grew in space? Or both?
Conrad - ALSJ: No. You don't remember what happened to my prime suit when they went to check it out prior to the flight. This was like three days before the flight. They did a suit check. And that suit, which had hardly been worn, had a leak in one of the boots. I don't remember which one, now. I think it was probably the left side. And I remember they told me 'your prime suit has a leak.' And they flew it by Lear Jet all the way up to ILC in Dover (Delaware), and the little old ladies put a new boot on the suit. And then they sent it back. Now, the normal way we fit the suit was to wear our LCG but, by the time they got the suit back that had already been packed in the spacecraft. And they wouldn't let me in the suit unless it was flight underwear (that is, either the flight LCG or flight longjohns). So I fitted again with my cotton (long underwear) for the Command Module. And I didn't guess right on the left boot. So it wasn't until we put on the LCGs in flight (that I realized) it was too short. And there's no way you can shorten your body. No matter what you do, the distance from your feet to your shoulders is the same. That's the way it was. So, there was a cable and we had laces (at the ankle) you could adjust (to lengthen or shorten the leg)... The laces went all the way around...
Bean - ALSJ: There were two sets, because everything was redundant. And they knotted the shit out of those things.