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The U.S. Congress has maintained an intense interest in the ISS program since its inception. In the Appropriations Act of 1997, the Senate of the United States included language directing National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to have the National Research Council (NRC) under take a study that evaluates the engineering challenges posed by extravehicular activity (EVA) requirements, United States and non-United States space launch requirements, the potential need to upgrade or replace equipment and components after Assembly Complete, and the requirement to decommission and disassemble the facility. NASA and the NRC decided the focus should be on the anticipated challenges in the continuous operation and maintenance of the ISS after assembly of the on-orbit facility has been completed. This would encompass the operational years, from late 2004 (if the current schedule holds) to 2020-2025. This executive summary overviews the results of this NRC study. It focuses on the U.S. operation of the ISS after Assembly Complete, including cooperative efforts by the United States and Russia. The paper summarizes the primary findings and recommendations in each of the areas considered during this two-year NRC study., (c2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.)

A feasibility study in 1992 showed the benefits of a common European Russian space suit development, EVA Suit 2000, replacing the Russian space suit Orlan-DMA and the planned European Hermes EVA space suit at the turn of the century. This EVA Suit 2000 is a joint development initiated by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian Space Agency (RKA). The main objectives of this development program are: first utilization aboard the Russian Space Station MIR-2; performance improvement with respect to current operational suits; development cost reduction. Russian experience gained with the present extravehicular activity (EVA) suit on the MIR Space Station and extensive application of European Technologies will be needed to achieve these ambitious goals. This paper presents the current status of the development activities, the space suit system design and concentrates in more detail on life support aspects. Specific subjects addressed will include the overall life support conceptual architecture, design features, crew comfort and operational considerations.

The paper presents the analysis of the Russian experience gained in the operations of Salyut-6, 7 and Mir orbital stations. The main factors determining their effectiveness and safety are considered and the main requirements to the EVA suit, as the most important tool for the EVA, are formulated.

The experience gained in the USSR allows the following conclusions: physiological responses to EVA do not depend on flight duration in qualitative and quantitative terms. Physiological responses to EVA are mainly determined by following 3 factors: physiological activities; space suit environmental parameters; physiological stress. This paper reviews problems, associated with altitude decompression sickness; thermal regulation of the body, visual function and physiological psychological stress as well as individual EVA experience in physiological responses.