Enviro - suit An enviro - suit , environment suit , pressure suit , g - suit , space suit , vac suit , vacc suit , or EVA suit was a sealed , self - contained suit ( including helmet ) worn by a humanoid to survive in hostile environments , such as poisonous gas , deep ocean water , or vacuum . They provided breathing substance — such as oxygen — and maintained necessary pressure inside the suit . They were normally used in Type IV atmospheres , but with some exceptions . They also had an EVA durability of eight hours , and likewise were classified under Class D spacesuit s . Technology . There were many types of enviro - suits in the galaxy , as indicated by the variety of names which this type of outfit was called . Their common feature was that they offered protection for the wearer from lethal or nearly - lethal effects of the environment . The majority of the species in the galaxy could not survive in every environment , due to one or more factors : Common characteristics of enviro - suits were that they sealed the user ' s body from the environment hermetically . For most species , however , if they wanted to work or just survive for a longer period in the hostile environment , they had to carry at least an amount of their own atmosphere with them for breathing and for maintaining the pressure around their body . The supply for this atmosphere was usually in a high - pressure tank mounted on the back of the suit , which carried an amount of the user ' s atmosphere which was usually enough for a few standard hours of average activity . Most environmental suits usually provided their users with some degree of protection from heat , too . Enviro - suits were often used in space . To allow mobility for the user in zero gravity , they were usually fitted with jetpacks . Although some enviro - suits allowed underwater exploration , not all did . Usage . Typically , enviro - suits were used by individuals to enter space , often for the purpose of doing repairs on the surface or in the depressurized compartments of starships or space stations , usually if there were no droids available for this task . The typical enviro - suit for this purpose was often called a " space suit " . The usage of enviro - suit covered even military activities : in the Clone Wars , the Republic ' s clone troopers were able to assault enemy starships directly through space , when they were equipped with a specialized armor with jetpacks , which was of course also an enviro - suit . A famous example was when , under the command of General Saesee Tiin , the troopers of the seriously damaged Star Destroyer , the " Impavid " , captured the " Prosperous " , a Confederate " Providence " - class destroyer in the Battle of Coruscant . Later under the Empire , the stormtroopers had a special division called space troopers , whose special armor was in fact a reinforced environmental suit with a jetpack on the back . These type of stormtroopers were deployed sometimes in space battles , where their task was to sabotage enemy starships after landing on their surface . At the same time , the Rebel Special Forces SpaceOps used a lighter variant of enviro - suit . This was equipped with a jetpack that used short a burst to propel the Marine through space . Another area of frequent usage was the activity of dry - land species under water , members of which would otherwise suffocate or be crushed by the high pressure of kilometer - thick water layers . This type of enviro - suit was sometimes called " pressure suit " . Regular spacesuits , however , could not function underwater due to pressure differences , as evidenced by Han Solo ' s attempted usage of a spacesuit to retrieve the " Millennium Falcon " from lake worm s on the planet Daluuj and becoming overwhelmed in little time . Some species had to wear a pressure suit on almost any planet other than their homeworld . Famous examples were the Skakoans , who could only travel to other planets wearing a special protective suit since they would suffer severe decompression in typical Type I atmospheres . Notable uses . Revan wore an enviro - suit to survive the high pressure at the bottom of the Hrakert Rift on Manaan in 3956 BBY . Later that year , Revan , Carth Onasi , and Bastila Shan also donned environmental suits in order to access the bridge of the Leviathan , which had been sealed off . The miners at the Peragus Mining Facility wore such suits when working in vacuum , as did Meetra Surik when she visited the facility in 3951 BBY . Mira later stole the suit from Surik and used it to gain entry into the Jekk ' Jekk Tarr . Darth Tenebrous and his apprentice , Darth Plagueis , wore enviro - suits on the planet Bal ' demnic . During the Clone Wars , Obi - Wan Kenobi wore a space suit to sneak aboard Count Dooku ' s frigate to " rescue " Anakin Skywalker . Skywalker had allowed himself to be taken captive in a planned operation to capture the leader of the Confederacy of Independent Systems . On their mission to infiltrate Centerpoint Station in 40 ABY , Jedi Knight Jacen Solo and his apprentice Ben Skywalker donned environmental suits in order to move on the airless surface of the station .