Environmental suit An environmental suit , also known as an EV suit or pressure suit , is a special form of clothing designed to be used for protection or life support in inhospitable environments . For Human s , with the advent of space travel came the need to perform tasks outside the controlled atmosphere of space vessels . Consequently , the EV suit was developed . As planet s and other stellar objects came within the reach of Human space explorers , their EV suits became necessary for them to explore environments with different atmospheric conditions than those on Earth . ( , " et al . " ) Other cultures also used EV suits . ( , " et al . " ) 20th century . In 1969 , the first men to set foot on Earth ' s moon , Luna , wore space suits . Astronaut s continued to use space suits for space walk s in Earth orbit . ( title sequence , ) 21st century . During the initial flight of the " Phoenix " in 2063 , noted inventor Zefram Cochrane and his copilots – Geordi La Forge and William T . Riker – did not wear any pressure or flight suits . Cochrane made history by making First Contact with an alien species , the Vulcan s , after the " Phoenix " had ended its flight . ( ) 22nd century . In the 2140s , Vulcan EV suits were relatively large . Jonathan Archer once commented that the experience of wearing one was " like you ' re flying around inside your own little starship . " ( ) In the mid - 22nd century , Starfleet tested the new warp five engine in the NX Program . The test pilots of the NX - Alpha and NX - Beta starships used only unpressurized flight suits . ( ) Workers at Earth spacedock wore a type of EV suit with a white and red coloring . ( ) A new EV suit was introduced as standard issue on , the first ship of the NX - class . These suits were copper colored with gray padding , and were comprised of several components , including a helmet . ( ) Military Assault Command Operations ( MACOs ) had their own type of EV suit . ( , " et al . " ) Helmet . The design of the helmet allowed an almost normal field of view to the wearer . Though the vertical field of view was limited to eight degrees , the amount of room inside the helmet allowed the wearer to compensate by simply moving his or her head . The helmet had a clear visor integrated into the front that could not be opened separately . It featured two outside lights , one on either side , and two ambient lights inside to illuminate the wearer ' s face . When the helmet was sealed , the ambient lights would activate . A small earphone was attached to the helmet , which the wearer could insert in his or her ear , making it possible to stay in contact with a ship or other space vehicle . Located on the back of the helmet were air hoses to an oxygen supply , and an electrical connector for light , communication , and propulsion units . The helmet connected to the life support and propulsion unit via a secondary connection ring and not to the EV suit directly . Padding within the helmet made sure the wearer could not touch the visor with his or her face . EV suit . The EV suit was made as one full piece that closed at the front via a zip fastener and ended just below the elbow . The suit was self - sealing , meaning that if it were punctured or damaged in some way , sealant would be automatically applied to prevent the suit from decompressing . Although the suit was solid enough to protect its wearer from the rigors of space , a hypospray could still penetrate it in case of an emergency . Even with the heavy padding and protection , the suit could only protect its wearer against a neutronic wavefront for about twenty - two minutes ( inside a starship , at that ) . Life support and propulsion . The life support and propulsion unit ( or " LSPU " ) consisted of a hard upper torso body - shell and a harness . This unit contained the essentials for survival in space : communication equipment , oxygen , propulsion unit , EV controls , and the power supply . It was padded to give the wearer some extra comfort . The LSPU also held an extra oxygen hose for refilling or sharing the oxygen supply . This extra hose allowed oxygen to be replenished from any device that held liquid oxygen , provided the physical connection would fit . On the front of the unit , the following switches were present : communications , oxygen transfer , lighting and propulsion activation . On the back were the incoming and outgoing oxygen connections . These hoses were fastened via a bayonet joint to prevent accidental release . Below one of the oxygen connections was an air supply indicator , divided into eight equal parts . This indicated the level of oxygen by means of color coding – green , yellow , and red . In 2154 , this air supply indicator was removed and replaced by an analog indicator on the right side of the LSPU . The back of the unit also contained an electrical cord , which transferred power and communications from the LSPU to the electrical connector at the back of the helmet . The harness consisted of two leg bands that were connected to each other via a belt that was also used to hold small tool s as necessary . The LSPU was secured to the harness at four attachment points to keep the unit in place . Gloves . The gloves had five digits and were connected to the EV suit via a zip fastener just below the elbow . They were also self - sealing . Boots . The boots were made out of the same material as the EV suit and could be magnetized . ( ) Starship use . On each NX - class starship , at least six EV suits were present . Senior officer s and some security personnel had their own suits , while the rest of the suits were shared for general use . ( ) 23rd century . During the 23rd century , the EV suit had considerably advanced from the primitive suits of the century before . There were different types of suits for different environments , but only one of them was standard issue for Federation starships and various Federation facilities like the Elba II asylum . These EV suit were significantly more flexible than their predecessors before and less bulky . Late in the 23rd century , the standard issue EV suit changed dramatically . Helmet . The helmets of the standard - issue EV suits were taller and more spacious , yet still smaller than their 22nd century counterpart . The clear , fixed visor was much more vast and took up a majority of the helmet . It stretched from the front of the helmet , all the way to the back . A strange ambiguous light emanated from the bottom of the helmet and upward for the occupant to see . Late in the 23rd century , the helmets became more domed with the visor facing forward . These helmets were also spacious and allowed a lot of head room . EV suit . The EV suit was a chromo - metallic and form - fitting one - piece suit with a white belt that fastened around the waist . A phaser could be either holstered or attached to the white belt , depending on the severity of the away mission . The helmet was detachable and the name tag of the occupant could be seen on it . The upper chest and neck area of the suit had a built - in communicator . Late in the 23rd century , the EV suit generally remained the same except the color varied . Thruster suit . A thruster suit was an environmental suit , that could be equipped with a detachable thruster pack for use to travel short distances , and has been in use among other Starfleet personnel at the Epsilon IX station as well as the drydock where the upgraded was refurnished . A short time later , Spock utilized such a suit with a thruster unit , when entering and exploring the " V ' ger " entity in the early 2270s . James T . Kirk subsequently used a thruster suit to retrieve Spock . ( ) Life support and propulsion . All life support and propulsion systems were interwoven together as part of the EV suit in order to function better in hostile environments . Later in the 23rd century , propulsion relied upon a jet propulsion pack that was placed on the back of the EV suit . The jet propulsion pack was detachable . Gloves . The gloves had five digits and were connected to the EV suit . They were detachable and fastened just below the elbow . Boots . Each EV suit came with magnetic boots made out of the same material as the EV suit . Alternate reality . In the alternate reality created by Nero ' s incursion , there was at least one type of EV suit in use in the 2250s . The suit was available in all three division colors with a Starfleet insignia displayed prominently in the center of the chest piece and featured breathing equipment , including a helmet and oxygen , for use outside of Class M environments . It could also be equipped with a parachute for orbital skydiving missions . ( ) A similar , copper - colored suit was highly heat - resistant . It could even be worn inside a volcano . ( ) During special emergencies , officers employed special suits with maneuverable propulsion thrusters to facilitate travel through open space . These suits also contained a holographic navigation module in the helmet visor . ( ) 24th century . By the 24th century , the EV suit had changed into a white tight - fitting suit . Some pieces of the suit were gender - specific , allowing a more customized fit than some of the previous suits . Some suits could be folded for storage in a container inside a cargo bay . ( ) Helmet . The helmet was smaller than its 22nd century counterpart but retained the clear and fixed visor . Inside , two ambient lights were present on each side of the helmet to illuminate the wearer ' s face . Audio equipment , like a microphone and speaker , were integrated . EV suit . The EV suit was made as one part and was not self - sealing . Life support . The life support unit consisted of a hard upper - torso body - shell , which was different for men and women . This unit contained the essentials for survival : communication equipment , oxygen , EV controls , power supply , and again an extra oxygen hose that made it possible to share oxygen . Alerts were available visibly via the color - coded EV controls and also by audio . Under normal conditions , an EV suit would provide approximately twenty - four hours of oxygen . ( ) Gloves . The gloves had five digits and were connected to the EV suit via a self - sealing mechanism . Boots . The boots were made out of the same material as the EV suit and could be magnetized . ( ; ) Back - up system . Tom Paris and Harry Kim were kept alive by the backup system of their environmental suits , by " keeping their vital functions going " while unconscious . The system kicked in due to an environmental seal in their suits had been compromised , depleting the oxygen . ( ) Use . In 2366 , the escaped Angosian prisoner Roga Danar hid a pressure suit he found inside a cargo bay container to cause personnel to think he would use it to leave the starship through an airlock or torpedo tube . Security chief Worf , however , was not fooled and waited for Danar to reappear . Danar fought with Worf and escaped anyway , assisted by prior acts of sabotage on Danar ' s part . ( ) Jean - Luc Picard , Worf , and each made use of EV suits while in the year 2063 to stop the Borg from using the ' s deflector dish as a transmitter . ( )