Desert Research and Technology Studies
NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies is a group of teams which perform an annual series of field trials seeking to demonstrate and test candidate technologies and systems for human exploration of the surface of the Moon, Mars, or other rocky bodies.
Test subject Dean Eppler, working at the rear of a science trailer during Desert RATS 2004
A portion of the 2006 Desert RATS field team
D-RATS test of Mars equipment, including suitports
NASA PEGS Desert RATS 2004
A space suit or spacesuit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, and are necessary for extravehicular activity (EVA), work done outside spacecraft. Space suits have been worn for such work in Earth orbit, on the surface of the Moon, and en route back to Earth from the Moon. Modern space suits augment the basic pressure garment with a complex system of equipment and environmental systems designed to keep the wearer comfortable, and to minimize the effort required to bend the limbs, resisting a soft pressure garment's natural tendency to stiffen against the vacuum. A self-contained oxygen supply and environmental control system is frequently employed to allow complete freedom of movement, independent of the spacecraft.
Apollo spacesuit worn by astronaut Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11
Orlan space suit worn by astronaut Michael Fincke outside the International Space Station
Feitian space suit being displayed at the National Museum of China
Space suits being used to work on the International Space Station.