<P> Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut or cosmonaut outside a spacecraft beyond the Earth's appreciable atmosphere . The term most commonly applies to a spacewalk made outside a craft orbiting Earth (such as the International Space Station), but also has applied to lunar surface exploration (commonly known as moonwalks) performed by six pairs of American astronauts in the Apollo program from 1969 to 1972 . On each of the last three of these missions, astronauts also performed deep - space EVAs on the return to Earth, to retrieve film canisters from the outside of the spacecraft . Astronauts also used EVA in 1973 to repair launch damage to Skylab, the United States' first space station . </P> <P> A "Stand - up" EVA (SEVA) is when an astronaut does not fully leave a spacecraft, but is completely reliant on the spacesuit for environmental support . Its name derives from the astronaut "standing up" in the open hatch, usually to record or assist a spacewalking astronaut . </P>

What is a mission performed outside the space station