One article says that the Apollo astronauts were trained to put their spacesuits on in 5 minutes by themselves in case of an emergency. Makes sense but training while in a 1 G environment is one thing, how long would it actually take in zero G? I didn't think it would be possible to train for this in the vomit comet but I guess they could time it during the weightless intervals? Is the same standard still expected of astronauts today?
...Is the same standard still expected of astronauts today?..
The main issue is today cabin environments are N2/O2, typically at about 14 psi. The suits use about 4.3 psi pure O2. This raises the question of whether rapid donning of a space suit has any purpose since the astronaut would suffer decompression sickness (the bends).
In the shuttle/ISS era, I think the normal pre-breath protocol prior to donning a suit for EVA was about 12 hours, although in a contingency they might do four hours pure O2. The absolute minimum in a dire contingency is 2.5 hours pre-breath of pure O2. Scott Manley did a recent video about shuttle contingency EVAs which mentioned this:
The Apollo cabin environment was about 4.8 psi pure O2. The suits used pure O2 at about 3.7 psi, although this was adjustable. I vaguely recollect the CM/LM environmental control system had an emergency capability to maintain about 3.5 psi cabin pressure for a few minutes following hull rupture a few inches in diameter. With pure O2 there was never any risk of decompression sickness, so rapid donning of suits would hypothetically help.
I think during all critical flight phases Apollo astronauts wore suits, sometimes not pressurized or without gloves. They could don gloves and/or pressurize the suits quickly.
Thanks for the info. Should have figured out myself about the difference between the Apollo environment and the shuttle/ISS would answer my last question. Interesting video, thanks for the link.