Shuttle extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) operational enhancements

An EMU program activity is considered aimed at achieving a 25 percent reduction in ground turnaround man-hours and processing time between missions and extending EVA on-orbit capabilities. Tasks being implemented with expected benefits to NASA-manned spaceflight programs are identified and described. It is concluded that the EMU enhancements made to increase durability and reduce ground processing time will also provide the capability for on-orbit suit resizing and make possible the extension of the present on-orbit certification limit from 3 to 5 EVAs.