Extravehicular Mobility Unit

The Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) is an independent spacesuit that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for astronauts performing extravehicular activity (EVA) in Earth orbit. Introduced in 1982, it is a two-piece semi-rigid suit, and is one of two types of EVA spacesuits used by crew members on the International Space Station (ISS), the other being the Russian Orlan space suit. It was used by NASA's Space Shuttle astronauts prior to the end of the Shuttle program in 2011.