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Space suits for Extra Vehicular Activities (EVA) are the key element for astronauts and cosmonauts to perform work outside a space station or a space vehicle. The ‘EVA Suit 2000’ is a joint development of European and Russian companies initiated by the European Space Agency ESA and the Russian Space Agency RKA. One of the major challenges in the development program is the design for in-orbit stay times of several years as the suit is to be equally usable during orbiter-based short-term missions as well as from a space station in a long-term mission. Russian experience gained from present EVA suits on the MIR space station and European technologies for data handling and information management will be needed to achieve this goal. This paper presents the current state of development activities for the suit which is to become operational by the end of this decade.

The Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) equipment is one of the most sensitive subsystems aboard a manned spacecraft and the ECLSS envisaged for oncoming European programs such as Columbus or Hermes will be very complex in nature. Its development relies on the intense use of computer software during all phases of design and operations. A modern ECLS system consists of a variety of components and assemblies and contains a number of loop-type structures where components mutually influence each other. The computer software required to support the ECLSS engineer can be categorised in two groups. ‘Design Software’ is mainly employed on component and assembly level and aids the engineer in reaching the required design point. ‘Simulation Software’ is rather employed on subsystem and system level and allows to analyse a given lay-out or design and to obtain performance data for a wide range of conditions.