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4. The Russian Sokol spacesuit

From left to right: ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, Sergei Ryazansky of Roscosmos, and NASA’s Randy Bresnik in their Sokol suits.
From left to right: ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli, Sergei Ryazansky of Roscosmos, and NASA’s Randy Bresnik in their Sokol suits. Photo: ESA

Several versions of the Russian Sokol spacesuit have appeared since it debuted in 1973, but the suit—still worn today—has managed to stay clean, simple, and sharp. This is the suit that’s worn inside the Soyuz spacecraft, and it’s meant to keep astronauts alive in the event of accidental depressurization, among other mishaps. NASA’s ACES suit would be the U.S. equivalent. The current version of the suit is called Sokol-KV2, which has been in service since the 1980s. It’s a classic case of not fixing what ain’t broke.

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