 How did suspension help the crew?
I reached down to the tightness that held my body, found the wide strap that held me and fumbled with the buckle. How do you describe being weightless when you are born into a world bound by gravity. There was no sensation of place, no feeling of up or down, no direction. After the first shock of looking out, I accepted the fact that I was in a space ship, yet I couldn't read the maps that were fastened to a table, nor understand the function or design of the compact machinery. "Do not begin operations until the others are removed from suspension." Your maximum deviation from schedule cannot exceed two degrees. The eyelid remained open until I closed it and went on. I dared not try to operate anything. Everything lay in readiness, fastened down star charts, instruments, glittering equipment. It waited for human hands to make it operate. What speeds and perhaps, what distance? Four people in all, depending on a blind helpless fool who didn't know their names or the reason for that dependence. I went from the nose to the last bulkhead in a frenzy of floating motion, looking behind each door until I went as far as I could. They both ended in the lead shield that was set where the swell of the curve was biggest. It meant the engine or engines took up half the ship, cut off from the forward half by the instrument studded shield.
 They could travel through space for a long distance.
 They could survive without oxygen.  They could live on an inhospitable planet.  They could survive with lack of gravity.  They could travel through space for a long distance.