Do you think astronaut/cosmonaut need space suit (during launch phase)

[Pawelk198604]

I know that all Soviet/Russian and all american spacecraft have their own life support system,  

 

and really astronauts and cosmonauts do not need those heavy and bulky space suits.

But apparently every time the flights were without something bad happening, reportedly Soyuz 11 cosmonauts able to survive if they were wearing suits, the Russians believed that the life support system of the space capsule Soyuz is reliable, and can not fail, but it happened.
Their Soyuz had air leak after I undocked from the space station Salyut.

NASA astronauts also flown without the suits until the tragic mission of the space shuttle Challenger.

I wonder if the space agencies someday again decide to abandon the IVA space suits?

[Darnok]

Does space suit on astronauts uses more space that packed space suit?

[YNM]

Yes you need one. Especially when you're strapped to a massive contraption with explosion going all along behind it.

Joke aside, I don't think an IVA spacesuit is as bulky as EVA spacesuit ? If so, then better to dress in one. Good for the shots too.

[SargeRho]

You definitely want to have a flight suit during launch.

[Bill Phil]

I'm pretty sure NASA tried to maximize flight suit usage over their entire history.

[Nibb31]

NASA policy was always to wear spacesuits during mission-critical events (burns and reentry). During Apollo, they wore the "fishbowl" inner-helmets. Only during the early Shuttle missions, the crew had those disco-blue suits and unpressurized clam-shell helmets.

These were dropped after Challenger, when the orange LES suits were introduced, followed by the ACES suits.

The Russians had cosmonauts flying without spacesuits in Voskhod-1 (there was no room for them to wear suits), which was super-dangerous, but they wanted to beat NASA with a multi-crew flight, and of course, Soyuz-1. After that, space suits have been mandatory.

 

Edited May 5, 2016 by Nibb31

[insert_name]

Would a suit have helped Soyuz 1, I thought he died because of chute failure

[Elrond Cupboard]

  On 5/5/2016 at 6:55 PM, insert_name said:

Would a suit have helped Soyuz 1, I thought he died because of chute failure

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That mission was such a total disaster that it was miraculous he lived long enough to be killed by chute failure, but yes, sort of...

 

Actually "miraculous" is unfair, the poor [redacted very minor expletive] was a damned fine pilot who managed to get out of everything recoverable, but short of repacking his own chutes, in flight, he was screwed.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Elrond Cupboard
Stupid swear filter.

[kinnison]

YES.. at least for government funded missions

SpaceShipOne pilots did not have space suits, but then supposedly the craft was designed to not have any possible faults.

[Kryten]

  On 5/5/2016 at 6:55 PM, insert_name said:

Would a suit have helped Soyuz 1, I thought he died because of chute failure

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I think that's a typo for Soyuz 11. The only suits on Soyuz missions prior to 11 were EVA suits, and they were stored in the orbital module during launch.

[More Boosters]

Don't their suits help with all the Gs and whatnot?

[p1t1o]

Spacecraft systems might be highly reliable, but if you compare them to say, airliners or automobiles, they are deathtraps. For launch/recovery I'd vote for a pressure suit of some kind, yeah. Once you're in space its a much more steady-state kinda deal.

 

[sevenperforce]

Most cabins can survive a sufficiently small depressurization event, so you should make sure your crew can as well.

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

  On 5/5/2016 at 6:55 PM, insert_name said:

Would a suit have helped Soyuz 1, I thought he died because of chute failure

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Now, this is probably not possible, but he could have blown the hatch and parachuted if he ad an escape suit.

Also, i think this thread needs a poll. 

I say yes.

[RainDreamer]

Once we develop skin suit for space use, it likely will be the suit to be worn for most of the time EVA or IVA

[Nibb31]

  On 5/7/2016 at 7:10 PM, Emperor of the Titan Squid said:

Now, this is probably not possible, but he could have blown the hatch and parachuted if he ad an escape suit.

Also, i think this thread needs a poll. 

I say yes.

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If he had an ejection seat, probably, but you can't really jump out of a hypersonic capsule. Once the parachute failure became apparent, it was a matter of seconds.

The backup plan was a manually operated reserve parachute, but that one failed too. The landing rockets fired after the crash, causing a fire that incinerating the wreckage.

Edited May 8, 2016 by Nibb31

[kerbiloid]

As yet only one ship indeed had met this need (Soyuz-11), and exactly on that ship there were no spacesuits, it looks like placebo.

Maybe useful for evacuation, of course. But yet no crew had been evacuated, and it looks unlikely whether a rescue ship can be launched in time.

Edited May 9, 2016 by kerbiloid

[Pawelk198604]

I wonder why Gagarin Space suit was orange and why the American Shuttle space suits was orange, i heard that it was on purpose to make cosmonauts/astronauts more visible if the land in wrong place. 

[p1t1o]

  On 5/18/2016 at 9:23 AM, Pawelk198604 said:

I wonder why Gagarin Space suit was orange and why the American Shuttle space suits was orange, i heard that it was on purpose to make cosmonauts/astronauts more visible if the land in wrong place. 

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Makes sense, probably for potential water landings:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_orange

[kerbiloid]

P.S.

And now please appreciate...

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by kerbiloid

[V7 Aerospace]

Elrond Cupboard - "but short of repacking his own chutes, in flight, he was screwed."

Even if he did have the skills to repack them in flight, it would have been impossible because the rescue crew on the ground reported that the capsule was so hot after re-entry, that there was molten metal dripping from the wreckage.

(for some reason quoting isnt working right now)

[KerbonautInTraining]

About Challenger: Their suits weren't actually sealed during the launch. At that point NASA had lots of confidence in the Shuttle so some of them had their visors open or a glove unattached.

[DDE]

  On 5/5/2016 at 11:03 AM, Darnok said:

Does space suit on astronauts uses more space that packed space suit?

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Don't confuse IVA survival suits of the ACES/Sokol type with the suits that are worn during planned EVAs. NASA spent much of their time using dual-purpose suits (with extra kit for EVA), but with the Shuttle it's given up, and the plan for a retro dual-purpose suit for Constellation went bust.

  On 5/18/2016 at 1:13 PM, KerbonautInTraining said:

About Challenger: Their suits weren't actually sealed during the launch. At that point NASA had lots of confidence in the Shuttle so some of them had their visors open or a glove unattached.

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Yeah, but then the cockpit survived the explosion, so...

  On 5/6/2016 at 10:58 AM, More Boosters said:

Don't their suits help with all the Gs and whatnot?

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Nope, those aren't fighter-style G-suits.

  On 5/8/2016 at 7:54 AM, Nibb31 said:

If he had an ejection seat, probably, but you can't really jump out of a hypersonic capsule. Once the parachute failure became apparent, it was a matter of seconds.

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Speaking about that...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:B-58_Escape_Capsule.jpg

[Nibb31]

  On 6/8/2016 at 9:14 PM, DDE said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:B-58_Escape_Capsule.jpg

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That thing is barely smaller than the entire Vostok capsule.

It also did kill a couple of pilots.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Nibb31

[DDE]

  On 6/8/2016 at 9:22 PM, Nibb31 said:

That thing is barely smaller than the entire Vostok capsule.

It also did kill a couple of pilots.

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Well, I didn't say it was a good idea.

  On 5/8/2016 at 7:38 AM, RainDreamer said:

Once we develop skin suit for space use, it likely will be the suit to be worn for most of the time EVA or IVA

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And that is not a good idea either. I have major concerns over hygiene.