Extravehicular Mobility Unit

[3] The EMU hardware and accessories (PLSS, helmet, communications cap, and locking rings for the helmet and gloves), is manufactured by Hamilton Standard (now the Hamilton Sundstrand division of Collins Aerospace) out of Windsor Locks, Connecticut, while the suit's soft components (the arms of the HUT and the entire LTU) are produced by ILC Dover (a former division of Playtex) out of Frederica, Delaware.

During the research and development phase (1975–1980), a suit being tested caught fire, injuring a technician and forcing a redesign on the regulator and circulation fan.

The first EVA of the new EMU finally occurred on STS-6 when Story Musgrave and Donald Peterson went out in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Challenger and tested techniques to lower the launch cradle of a solid-fuel upper stage used to boost a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-A) into a geostationary orbit.

[5] With the building of the ISS, Hamilton Sundstrand and ILC Dover refined the existing Shuttle EMU by making the suit modular.

The ISS EMUs also have increased battery capacity, the Simplified Aid For EVA Rescue (SAFER), improved cameras and radios, and a new caution and warning system.

Another feature incorporated into the ISS suits is an additional battery to power heaters built into the glove, allowing astronauts to keep their hands warm during nighttime passages on each 95-minute orbit.

As of 2019[update], NASA plans to use Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) system during Artemis program, derived from the spacesuit technologies used in the past.

The Enhanced EMU Suit. The suits are white to reflect heat and to stand out against the blackness of space; the red stripes serve to differentiate astronauts.
The E.M.U Display and Control Module (DCM).
NASA's Extravehicular Mobility Unit Vitruvian Spaceman patch ( Space Shuttle version, with three stars representing NASA's human spaceflight programs )