# Space Shuttle Sneak **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905 "2015-08-26T01:39:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Potestas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@Potestas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Potestas)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/1 "2015-08-26T01:39:10Z")
Kind of a stupid question here but how would one go about sneaking onboard a space shuttle and taking a space suit if they were to want to do something like that? What would it involve and is there even a slight remote chance that someone with the access cards or whatever could get in and stowaway? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/2 "2015-08-26T01:43:52Z")
Good luck with that, since the program was canceled a few years ago. Even when it was running, there was 0.00% chance of doing this - the crew area is too small to miss another person hiding there, and the cargo area is open to the vacuum of space. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/3 "2015-08-26T03:01:03Z")
It could be done. That’s why they exploded Challenger! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/4 "2015-08-26T03:13:28Z")
Besides what beowulff said, the Shuttle astronauts WORE their spacesuits during launch, there wouldn’t be suits just hanging around for you to slip into. Spacesuits cost millions of dollars and are monitored carefully as they are literally the difference between life and death. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/5 "2015-08-26T03:13:32Z")
Your best bet would probably be to hide underneath the external fuel tank. Then jump over to the shuttle and hitch a ride when they released it and wait for the cargo bay doors to open. But you might want to wear some insulation. You’d be out of the plume of the SRBs but it still might get pretty hot. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/6 "2015-08-26T03:47:46Z")
I’m pretty sure the suits are also custom-fitted to their wearers, so even if you stole one, it wouldn’t be any good to you. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/7 "2015-08-26T04:30:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m pretty sure the suits are also custom-fitted to their wearers, so even if you stole one, it wouldn’t be any good to you. That was true up to and including Apollo, but starting with the Shuttle program NASA adopted standardized sizes of spacesuits (to some degree at least). Part of the whole ‘truck in space’ reusable concept of the Shuttle program. Without \*any \*clearances you couldn’t get within miles of a ready to launch Shuttle, let alone stowaway on board. And any & everyone who is involved in the final boarding prep of the crew is and would be accounted for. So no, not a chance. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/8 "2015-08-26T07:59:43Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > Besides what beowulff said, the Shuttle astronauts WORE their spacesuits during launch, there wouldn’t be suits just hanging around for you to slip into. Spacesuits cost millions of dollars and are monitored carefully as they are literally the difference between life and death. The suits they wore during launch weren’t actually space suits, as such, they were [pressure suits,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Crew_Escape_Suit) similar to those worn by high-altitude Air Force pilots, intended to provide life-support during an emergency. The space suits used for space walks ([the Extravehicular Mobility Units](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extravehicular_Mobility_Unit)) were stowed away until needed. But yes, there’s no way anyone would be walking off with either one of them, or even getting on board to try. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/9 "2015-08-26T12:25:01Z")
Then there’s that small problem of giving you instructions for doing something that would break several laws. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/10 "2015-08-26T13:49:56Z")
IFFFFF You are a plucky teenager who is a space enthusiast… You can fake a crappy badge… You weigh less than the error budget for the amount of frost that forms on the space craft… AND you carry a metal lunch box so you look like one of the “guys”… You might just sneak on to a spacecraft. I saw a documentary about it once. AND BTW…unless you plan on doing a space walk a space suit really isn’t needed. As far as I know exactly zero people have been saved because there was a spacesuit available when an emergency occured. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/11 "2015-08-26T13:57:16Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Then there’s that small problem of giving you instructions for doing something that would break several laws. I don’t think sneaking aboard a now non-existant space-craft is against the law. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/12 "2015-08-26T14:15:10Z")
With cooperation from a pretty large fraction of the ground crew, maybe someone could be stowed in the various cargo spaces? The mid-deck has [140 cubic feet of stowage space](http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/sts_coord.html), as well as several sleeping compartments (though I’m guessing those sleeping compartments aren’t sturdy enough to hold a human during launch). On some missions, the Shuttle also carried a rather large pressurized cargo module, the [MPLM](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-Purpose_Logistics_Module). That had space for 9 tons of cargo, a lot of it stored in man-sized bags. However, that thing is packed up and closed away a long time before launch – [18 days in the case of STS-135](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-135#Payload_canister). ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/13 "2015-08-26T14:46:59Z")
I saw a video once of an astronaut getting in and out a basically a storage drawer. So, if you were small and flexible, there is theorectically a place to hide. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/14 "2015-08-26T15:37:41Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Then there’s that small problem of giving you instructions for doing something that would break several laws. What, no cites? 😛 This Q makes me want to reread Have Spacesuit, Will Travel. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/15 "2015-08-26T16:16:58Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I saw a documentary about it once. Daaaaang, I haven’t thought about that movie in decades. Don’t suppose you remember the name of it? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/16 "2015-08-26T16:20:30Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Daaaaang, I haven’t thought about that movie in decades. Don’t suppose you remember the name of it? [Stowaway to the Moon - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stowaway_to_the_Moon_%28film%29) ? I saw that when it was new. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/17 "2015-08-26T16:38:47Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Then there’s that small problem of giving you instructions for doing something that would break several laws. So you know how to sneak aboard a space shuttle and go into outer space and board the International Space Station but you’re not going to share? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/18 "2015-08-26T18:13:34Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > Besides what beowulff said, the Shuttle astronauts WORE their spacesuits during launch, there wouldn’t be suits just hanging around for you to slip into. Spacesuits cost millions of dollars and are monitored carefully as they are literally the difference between life and death. The Lanuch Entry Suit (LES) and Advanced Crew Escape Suit (ACES) were only worn by crew after the _Challenger_ failure to ensure crew consiousness in a loss of pressurization event or (for the ACES) deployment of the Inflight Crew Escape System (ICES). The LES and ACES are dependent upon the Orbiter air supply and environmental control systems and do not have the radiation or thermal conditioning systems associated with true space exposure suits like the A7L or EMU suits used during Apollo and Shuttle eras. However, the STS Orbiter was designed to provide a ‘shirt sleeve’ environment from launch to landing, and the LES/ACES is purely intended as a safety measure against unexpected failure. A hypothetical stowaway could certain fly on the Shuttle without one. A larger problem would be the thrust and orientation during ascent where the Shuttle rolls belly up while experiencing accelerations approaching 3 g. The astronauts are securely harnessed in so as to provide a safe and comfortable (as possible) ride to orbit. Your stowaway, however, is going to be tossed hither and zither and bearing several times his weight in a variety of orientations as the Shuttle reorients. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/19 "2015-08-26T18:19:22Z")
I would never have guessed that there would be a GQ so aptly titled for this image: [![](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/4c5mol4pu69r7kx/Hunting%20Shuttle.jpg?dl=0) ](https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/4c5mol4pu69r7kx/Hunting%20Shuttle.jpg?dl=0) ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2015, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905/20 "2015-08-27T01:31:36Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Then there’s that small problem of giving you instructions for doing something that would break several laws. Thanks for making this real. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/space-shuttle-sneak/728905.md?page=2)