International Space Station (ISS) Airlock Crewlock Depressurization Methods

2004-01-2594

07/19/2004

Event
International Conference On Environmental Systems
Authors Abstract
Content
The International Space Station (ISS) Airlock Crewlock can be depressurized via various methods. The ISS Airlock is divided into two major sections, the Equipment Lock and Crewlock. The Equipment Lock, as the name indicates, contains the equipment to support EVA activities including Extravehicular Maneuvering/Mobility Unit (EMU) maintenance and refurbishment. The Equipment Lock also contains basic life support equipment in order to support denitrogenzation protocols while the Airlock is isolated from the rest of the ISS. The Crewlock is the section of the Airlock that is depressurized to allow for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) crewmembers to exit the ISS for performance of EVAs. As opposed to the Equipment Lock, the Crewlock is quite simple and basically just contains lights and an assembly to provide services, oxygen, coolant, etc, to the EMUs.
For operational flexibility, various methods were derived for Crewlock depressurization. Herein these various different methods of ISS Airlock Crewlock depressurization will be described including their performance, impacts, and risks associated with each method. Each of the different methods will be discussed with flight data, if it exists. Models will be applied to flight cases and to other methods that have not been used on-orbit at this time.
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/2004-01-2594
Pages
14
Citation
Williams, D., Leonard, D., Booth, V., and Russell, M., "International Space Station (ISS) Airlock Crewlock Depressurization Methods," SAE Technical Paper 2004-01-2594, 2004, https://doi.org/10.4271/2004-01-2594.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Jul 19, 2004
Product Code
2004-01-2594
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English