Bioisolation Testing of space station Freedom Modular Habitats

Previous testing verified that bioisolation between animal specimens and a spacecraft crew can be provided at the level of the individual specimen's living quarters (modular habitat) by the use of microbial air filters. As a follow-on effort, a long term experiment was performed to (1) determine the effective lifetime of the microbial filters and (2) collect and analyze condensate from the heat exchanger. This paper presents results showing that the filters provided effective microbial isolation throughout the 58 day tests. Condensate data analysis is also presented. The experiment was repeated for a two week period without filters to serve as a control.