The space suit, or "EMU" for extravehicular mobility unit, allows us to meet our survival needs in space. All of the items we need to live on the Earth are available to us through the space suit. In fact, wearing a space suit is like being in a one-person spaceship!

Astronauts appear to be hovering or floating above the space shuttle when they are in their space suits. Are they really floating? The most common explanation of this is that there is no gravity in space. But if that's true, what keeps the shuttle in orbit around the Earth? The Earth's gravity does affect the astronauts. Try this!

How long have we had space suits? Where do they come from? The United States developed their first space suit from a special suit that Navy test pilots used to wear when flying very high above the clouds. There, we find little air pressure and the pilots need something to hold the pressure. The first space suits from the Mercury program weren't very comfortable but as we began to go into space more often, the suits were redesigned to give the astronaut more freedom to move around.

Today's space suits are made by hand in Delaware and cost about $2.5 million and last roughly 8 years (or 461 hours in space). Early suits were made by hand to fit one particular astronaut, which meant only that astronaut could wear it! Shuttle suits come in different sizes and can fit more than one astronaut. There are about twelve suits serving NASA's hundred or so astronauts. The suit, with the full backpack, weighs about 295 pounds! Naturally, you don't sense that in space. The suits are stored on the deck below where the pilots sit.