ANITA – The Optimised Spacecraft Cabin Air Monitor on Its Way to Orbit

ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) is a flight experiment as precursor for a permanent continuous trace gas monitoring system on the International Space Station (ISS). After more than 10 years of development it has reached a high level of maturity. For the safety of the crew the (ruggedised) system can detect and quantify quasi on–line and simultaneously 32 trace gases with ppm or sub-ppm detection limits. Thus a versatile usable air monitor is provided allowing for the first time the detection and monitoring of trace gas dynamics of a spacecraft atmosphere.

The plan is to accommodate ANITA in a Destiny (US LAB) Express Rack on ISS. The transportation to ISS may either be with the Space Shuttle or the Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV).