International Space Station (ISS) United States (US) Laboratory Module Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) System Close-Out Process for Launch

The International Space Station (ISS) United States Laboratory module has been under test for approximately two years in the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) at NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) preparing for launch. Preparation activities for closing out the Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) system have included Closed Hatch testing to verify the capability of the life support equipment to support the crew, final manufacturing steps, and the close-out process itself. These activities were accomplished by an integrated Boeing and NASA team, located at the Johnson Space Center (Houston, Texas), Marshall Space Flight Center (Huntsville, Alabama) and Kennedy Space Center, Florida. On December 13, the Laboratory module hatches were sealed prior to loading into the Shuttle Orbiter payload bay for launch on February 7, 2001.

This paper will address the Laboratory module ECLS hardware configuration including off-gas testing, baseline cabin sampling used to compute initial on-orbit ingress contaminant load, final purge, and cabin pressure adjustment for launch.