EVA - EUROPEAN PLANS

The current status of European EVA (extravehicular activity) plans is reviewed. The major difference to already existing EVA scenarios in U. S.A. and Soviet Union consists in the adoption of a higher suit pressu re, namely 500 hPa. The results of a study concerned with the physiolo gical consequences of this adoption are presented, including recommend ations for protective procedures and their necessary experimental vali dation. A certain discrepancy between laboratory experimental decompre ssion data and EVA operational results is discussed, leading to the id entification of several items which may influence space decompression. Microgravity and the influence of the space suit itself are most like ly factors in the explanation of this discrepancy, and both experiment al procedures and technological developments are proposed to clarify t heir role for the future design of EVA procedures.