Space Suit Radiator Performance in Lunar and Mars Environments

2007-01-3275

07/09/2007

Event
International Conference On Environmental Systems
Authors Abstract
Content
During an ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA), both the heat generated by the astronaut's metabolism and that produced by the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) must be rejected to space. The heat sources include the heat of adsorption of metabolic CO2, the heat of condensation of water, the heat removed from the body by the liquid cooling garment and the load from the electrical components. Although the sublimator hardware to reject this load weighs only 1.58 kg (3.48 lbm), an additional 3.6 kg (8 lbm) of water are loaded into the unit, most of which is sublimated and lost to space, thus becoming the single largest expendable during an eight-hour EVA. Using a radiator to reject heat from the astronaut during an EVA can reduce the amount of expendable water consumed in the sublimator.
Last year we reported on the design and initial operational assessment tests of a novel radiator designated the Radiator And Freeze Tolerant heat eXchanger (RAFT-X). Herein, we report on tests conducted in the NASA Johnson Space Center Chamber E Thermal Vacuum Test Facility. Up to 250 W (855 Btu/h) of heat were rejected in simulated Lunar and Mars environments with temperatures as cold as −170°C (−275°F). Further, the RAFT-X endured several freeze / thaw cycles and in fact, the heat exchanger was completely frozen three times without any apparent damage to the unit.
Meta TagsDetails
DOI
https://doi.org/10.4271/2007-01-3275
Pages
15
Citation
Nabity, J., Mason, G., Copeland, R., Libberton, K. et al., "Space Suit Radiator Performance in Lunar and Mars Environments," SAE Technical Paper 2007-01-3275, 2007, https://doi.org/10.4271/2007-01-3275.
Additional Details
Publisher
Published
Jul 9, 2007
Product Code
2007-01-3275
Content Type
Technical Paper
Language
English