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Since 1992 studies were conducted to define a common European/Russian Space Suit to replace the Russian space suit Orlan-DMA and the former planned European Hermes EVA suit development programme. This so called EVA Suit 2000 is a joint development initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency (RKA). This paper presents the actual development status of the EVA Suit 2000 suit enclosure. After an overview on the Russian and European previous suit developments, the suits architecture and major components are described. Finally the paper gives an outlook on the development work continuation, the development logic and the test and analysis approaches to be applied.

Since 1992 studies were conducted to define a common European/Russian Space Suit to replace the Russian space suit Orlan-DMA and the former planned European Hermes EVA space suit. This EVA Suit 2000 is a joint development initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency (RKA). The utilisation scenario foresees space based missions where the suits are permanently stationed on-board a space station: Throughout this mission duration, reliability and availability of the space suits have to be maintained. A concept for preventive and corrective maintenance was developed which is closely linked to the EVA Suit 2000 technical baseline and applied technologies. Russian experience gained with the present Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suit on the Mir space station and extensive application of European technologies shall be applied to achieve these ambitious mission requirement.

This paper synthesizes the shoulder joint development activities performed in the frame of the European EVA Space Suit System (ESSS) programme. The shoulder joint belongs to the anthropomorphic enclosure encompassing the crewmember, protecting him against space environment while ensuring him adequate mobility, dexterity and visibility. A conceptual trade-off selected two candidates likely to fulfil the stringent shoulder joint requirements: an all-soft joint and a hybrid “rolling convolute”. Representative pressurized breadboards were designed, manufactured and tested. The tests addressed both intrinsic performance, via torque/flexion hysteresis curves and ergonomic characteristics via a “man in the loop” evaluation, involving a suit demonstrator. Tests results completed the trade-off, thus enabling the industrial team to formulate recommendations and propose further development studies.

The paper describes the effort carried out in Europe for the design and development of an EVA Suit Enclosure Module (ESEM) operating at 500 hPa, within the frame of the development studies of the Hermes Spaceplane EVA System. The general ESEM design is supported by four technology studies each one focused on a breadboard manufacturing and testing. A glove breadboard is fully tested in a dedicated glove box; The bending performances of the rolling convolute shoulder joint breadboard are assessed through mechanical tests; A material screening is performed leading to an arm thermal protection and an elbow soft joint respectively thermally and mechanically tested; A demonstration of the biomedical section is performed. All these technology programs and a general definition study conclude to a definition of the ESEM flight model described in the paper.