How the FIRST ever flight suit was invented in the USSR

The first Russian “spacesuit” appeared long before the beginning of space exploration, as early as in the 1930s.

Pilots making flights at altitudes above 8,000 meters (26,250 ft) began complaining of dizziness and even loss of consciousness.

Scientists and doctors around the world tried to solve the problem. For example, the British proposed using diving suits at high altitudes. And, by the way, the Russian word for ‘spacesuit’ is ‘скафандр’ (skafandr), which, in French, is precisely a ‘diving suit’.

Yevgeny Chertovsky

But, the USSR, eager for stratospheric records, decided to come up with something of its own. The task was undertaken by Yevgeny Chertovsky, an engineer at the Institute of Aviation Medicine.

At first, he focused on creating a special sealed cabin. But, for the pilots' health, this turned out to be insufficient.

Pilot in a ‘Ch-3’ suit

Then Chertovsky created the first spacesuit in 1931. ‘Ch-1’ was a sealed suit with a helmet and a small glass for the eyes. The principle of operation was as follows: when ascending to altitude, air was fed into the suit, regulating pressure and saving the pilot from decompression. The only problem was that it was impossible to move your arms or legs in this suit.

This was taken into account, so the second prototype, ‘Ch-2’ already had hinges at the knees and elbows.

Over the next 10 years, the engineer created seven models. Subsequent ones had absorbent thermal underwear, rubberized layers and shoulder hinges. By 1937, the suit, in many ways, resembled the suit in which Gagarin made his first space flight in 1961.

Gagarin spacesuit

Later, Chertovsky tested other models, in particular, for supersonic flights. The first true spacesuit, meanwhile, was created already in the late 1950s. The SK-1 flew into space even earlier than Gagarin, as a mannequin made the flight in it, together with space dogs.