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.
Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmental support. EVA includes spacewalks and lunar or planetary surface exploration. In a stand-up EVA (SEVA), an astronaut stands through an open hatch but does not fully leave the spacecraft. EVAs have been conducted by the Soviet Union/Russia, the United States, Canada, the European Space Agency and China.
Cosmonaut Sergey Volkov works outside the International Space Station on August 3, 2011.
Stephen Robinson riding the Canadarm2 during STS-114 on August 3, 2005. The first in-flight repair of the Space Shuttle. The landmass in the backdrop is the Bari region of Somalia.
Ed White performs the first American spacewalk during Gemini IV.
Buzz Aldrin walks on the Moon during the pioneering Apollo 11 mission in 1969.