Abstract: The control problem of the present manual thermal control system for the extravehicular activities (EVA) space suits is introduced, and the previous attempts to develop automatic thermal control systems(ATCS) are addressed. Using the back propagation (BP) algorithm, a model of ATCS based on artificial neural network is established. Oxygen consumption rate, overall sweat rate, heart rate, the liquid cooled garment (LCG) outlet water temperature and the differences in water temperature into and out of the LCG are used as inputs, while the LCG inlet temperature is used as output. The BP algorithm and the network construction are also discussed. It is shown that the artificial neural network technics is a new approach to develop ATCS for EVA space suits.

Key words: space suits, EVA, thermal control, ar tificial neura l networ ks