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It's offered to your attention the electrical equivalent of the Soviet cosmonaut space suit SOKOL-KM, especially made by its original manufacturer NPP Zvezda to check spacecraft Soyuz onboard equipment connected to the space suit, as well as, on-Earth equipment, without usage of the space suit itself, just its electrical equivalent. To prevent real space suits from premature wear, Soviet engineers used such "equivalents". This "equivalent" immitates the electrical characteristics of the real space suit and has the same connection plugs. It may be useful for the owners of the real space suits, as it should be identical electrically to earlier and later models of the space suit Sokol (modifications K, KV, KV-2). Also, it may be interesting to place this item beside the real space suit to show what Soviet engineers used for spacecraft electric tests.
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CONDITION - very good and clean (please see the pictures).
 Made in Russia by original space suits manufacturer NPP "Zvezda".
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Sokol-KM ("Falcon") is the improved version of Sokol-K crew rescue suit what was developed for use aboard Soyuz after Soyuz-11 tragedy, in which all three unsuited cosmonauts died in a decompression accident. Sokol-K was first tested during the Soyuz-12 mission in September, 1973. From that point onward, the Sokol-K and its subsequent generations were used on all Soyuz flights for the launch, docking, and descent phases. Sokol-K continued in use until succeeded by the improved Sokol KV-2 model flown in the Soyuz T-2 spacecraft on 5 June, 1980. Each suit was connected to an on-board life support system in the capsule which supplied oxygen, electrical power, suit ventilation and water for the cooling garment worn underneath. The suit was designed to not impede the astronaut during flight in a pressurized cabin and to support the astronaut's life in case of cabin depressurization. The soft suit consisted of two layer enclosures, an outer restraint layer of white nylon canvas with royal blue trim, and an internal pressure bladder of rubber and rubberized material. The integral helmet had a soft hood and a hinged plastic visor. The Sokol-K had lacing on the front opening of the suit (replaced by two zippers in the later model); a smaller helmet and visor than the later suits; and the pressure regulator was separate and located at the side on the suit. In case of cockpit depressurization, pure oxygen was supplied to the suit. The pressure regulator provided two suit pressure modes - 400 hPa (main mode) and 270 hPa (back-up).
Work on improving the Sokol-K began 1973, immediately after its introduction. The Sokol-KM and KV were intermediate models on which many of the features of the Sokol KV-2 were developed, neither was ever used in space.
To be donned, the Sokol-KM and KV split into upper and lower halves joined by zip fasteners. However, this feature was discarded in the Sokol KV-2 and the appendix was retained as a means of donning the suit - it was thought to be more reliable than the airtight zippers the Russians were able to make. Other changes included alterations to the fabric around the joints improve mobility and improvement of the gloves to make it easier to operate the spacecraft controls.
The KM and KV also featured a liquid-cooled undergarment that would increase the comfort of the wearer by efficiently removing body-heat; other suits relied on the flow of air to do this.
The Sokol-KM was developed in 1973 by NPP "Zvezda" (what means "star" in English). It was designed to support a suited astronaut for up to 30 hours in a pressurized cabin and two hours in an unpressurized one. Ventilating air was provided at 150 l/minute and oxygen at 20 l/minute in pressurized operation.
Each suit was tailor-made to fit individual crew members. In the Soyuz spacecraft they reclined in Kazbek seats which had custom-fitted molded liners.
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