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The Extravehicular Mobility Unit


The Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Photo courtesy NASA

The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (or EMU) is the spacesuit used for space walking from the shuttle and International Space Station. When astronauts go outside of the craft, astronauts put on the extravehicular mobility unit (EMU). Over the years, EMUs have changed a lot. The current suits have a primary life support system and special items designed for comfort and safety. Space suit pieces can be mixed and matched to fit the different sizes of astronauts that go into space.

To get ready for a space walk, the astronaut goes into the airlock and puts on the parts of the EMU. These include:

  • Maximum Absorption Garment (MAG) - collects urine produced by the astronaut
  • Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) - removes excess body heat produced by the astronaut during space walks
  • EMU Electrical Harness (EEH) - provides connections for communications and bio-instruments
  • Communications Carrier Assembly (CCA) - contains microphones and earphones for communications
  • Lower Torso Assembly (LTA) - lower half of the EMU including pants, knee and ankle joints, boots and lower waist
  • Hard Upper Torso (HUT) - hard fibreglass shell that supports several structures including the arms, torso, helmet, life-support backpack and control module
  • Arms
  • Gloves - outer and inner gloves
  • Helmet

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Torso: the body excluding the head and neck and limbs.