A little wonder, every day

A spacesuit as a personal spacecraft

NASA image ISS060E038558, EMUs in the Quest Airlock aboard the ISS on 21 August 2019; NASA/Christina Koch. Source: https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/iss060e038558/iss060e038558~large.jpg. NASA credit; public-domain U.S. federal work.

NASA image JSC2018E087573, astronaut Sunita Williams practicing spacewalking in NASA’s Virtual Reality Lab; NASA/JSC/James Blair. Source: https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/jsc2018e087573/jsc2018e087573~large.jpg. NASA credit; public-domain U.S. federal work. The caption says it is simulated training, not an EVA.

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NASA image ISS060E038558, EMUs in the Quest Airlock aboard the ISS on 21 August 2019; NASA/Christina Koch. Source: https://images-assets.nasa.gov/image/iss060e038558/iss060e038558~large.jpg. NASA credit; public-domain U.S. federal work.

Listen to fact0:00 / —

During a spacewalk, an astronaut is outside the protection of the spacecraft, exposed to vacuum, extreme temperatures, and the risk of impacts from small particles. The EMU spacesuit creates a sealed environment around the person: it supplies oxygen, maintains pressure and temperature, provides communications, and has outer layers that offer protection, including from micrometeoroids and orbital debris. That protection does not make the suit invulnerable: a strong impact or puncture can cause a dangerous loss of pressure.