Browse Topic: Life support systems
As it became clear at the onset of COVID-19 pandemic that the novel coronavirus was transmitted through the air, several companies realized their NASA-derived air-quality technologies could help combat its spread. And they soon found themselves overwhelmed by demand from schools to hospitals, shopping centers, office buildings, airports, and even buses
The Controlled Closed-Ecosystem Development System (CCEDS) can be used to develop designs for sustainable, small-scale reproductions of subsets of the Earth’s biosphere and the Orbiting Modular Artificial-Gravity Spacecraft (OMAGS) that can be distributed both on and beyond Earth to improve quality of life, expand the diversity of life, study and protect life, and enable life to permanently extend beyond Earth
The third flight of SLS and Orion will carry the first woman and first person of color to the Moon. Artemis III will be the culmination of the rigorous testing and more than two million miles accumulated in space on NASA’s deep space transportation systems during Artemis I and II
With Artemis II — the first crewed flight of SLS and Orion — four astronauts will travel to the lunar environment in 2024. The Artemis II crew will have an approximate 10-day mission where they will set a record for the farthest human travel (4,600 miles) beyond the far side of the Moon in a hybrid free-return trajectory
Dassault Systèmes Velizy-Villacoublay, France
In October 1962, the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Unit was established with a goal of providing specialized medical and physiological support to help close the gap between Army combat aviation needs and human capabilities, and to protect aviators from altitude, climate, noise, acceleration, impact, and other stressors in a growing hostile environment. In 1969, the Army re-designated the unit as the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory (USAARL
The Orion Crew-Service Module (CM/SM) umbilical retention and release mechanism supports, protects, and disconnects all of the cross-module commodities between the spacecraft's crew and service modules. These commodities include explosive transfer lines, wiring for power and data, and flexible hoses for ground purge and life support systems. Initial development testing of the mechanism's separation interface resulted in binding failures due to connector misalignments. Separation of the umbilical lines between the Crew Module (CM) and the Service Module (SM) happens as part of the vehicle separation activities prior to reentry. If the umbilical fails to separate successfully, the crew and spacecraft will likely be lost
Implementation of IEC 60601-1-2, 4th edition is on the horizon. This collateral standard to the IEC 60601-1 medical safety standard specifies the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements for medical devices and systems. The fourth edition was issued by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in February 2014. The FDA is requiring compliance for new products after April 1, 2017, and in Europe, the EN 60601-1-2:2007 3rd edition withdrawal date is currently set for December 31, 2018. It is expected that the EN 60601-1-2:2015 (4th) edition will be in effect in the EU before that date
Optical detection of gaseous carbon dioxide, water vapor (humidity), and oxygen is desired in Portable Life Support Systems (PLSS) incorporating state-of-the-art CO2 scrubbing architectures. Earlier broadband detectors are nearing their end of life, and recent advances in laser diode technology make replacement of earlier technology compelling. The function of the infrared gas transducer used during extravehicular activity (EVA) in the current spacesuit is to measure and report the concentration of CO2 in the ventilation loop. The next-generation PLSS requires next-generation CO2 sensing technology with performance beyond that presently in use on the Shuttle/International Space Station extravehicular mobility unit (EMU). Accommodation within spacesuits demands that optical sensors meet stringent size, weight, and power requirements. A sensor is required that is compact, low power, low mass, has rapid sampling capability, can operate over a wide pressure range, and can recover from
As the rigor of vehicle pollution regulations increase there is an increasing need to come up with unique and innovative ways of reducing the effective emissions of all vehicles. In this paper, we will describe our development of a carbon capture and sequestration system that can be used in-tandem with existing exhaust treatment used in convention vehicles or be used as a full replacement. This system is based on work done by researchers from NASA who were developing a next generation life support system and has been adapted here for use in a convention vehicle with minimal changes to the existing architecture. A prototype of this system was constructed and data will be presented showing the changes observed in the effective vehicle emissions to the atmosphere. This system has the potential to extract a significant portion of tailpipe emissions and convert them into a form that allows for safe, clean disposal without causing any harm to the environment. This paper will present a
In 2007, when the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a call for a sensor that could equip a smartphone with the ability to detect dangerous gases and chemicals, NASA Ames Research Center scientist Jing Li had a ready response. She had been developing the use of single-walled carbon nanotubes that respond to various gases and compounds for use in NASA applications such as evaluating planetary atmospheres, detecting chemicals around rocket launch pads, and monitoring the performance of life-support systems. Her proposal was awarded funding in 2008, but she needed a way for the device to “sniff” the air for samples, and a system that would allow it to interface with a smartphone
NASA has a clear need to develop new technology in support of its future goals, including missions beyond low-Earth orbit, the possible development of lunar outposts, and the eventual exploration of Mars. As these missions develop, it is anticipated that crew members will spend extended time outside the spacecraft and established habitats, requiring new, robust, lightweight life support systems for extravehicular activities (EVAs). One area that is critical to life support systems is the control of CO2, and new spacesuits must be able to accommodate longer EVAs without increasing the size or weight of the current portable life support system (PLSS
The amine swingbed was in development for incorporation into Orion’s environmental control and life support system to remove metabolic carbon dioxide and humidity from the crew atmosphere. The compact, low-power swingbed uses space vacuum to regenerate itself. Direction was given by NASA to develop it for a payload experiment on ISS using the most recent engineering development laboratory unit. To minimize overboard humidity and crew cabin ullage losses, a method for removing humidity upstream of the amine swingbed had to be developed, along with a means to minimize overboard ullage losses when the swingbed cycled
NASA’s endeavor to further enable long-duration manned space exploration requires further closure of the oxygen loop of the life support system that is currently realized aboard the International Space Station. Currently, oxygen is recovered from crew-generated carbon dioxide via the use of a Sabatier carbon dioxide reduction system coupled with water electrolysis. Water is electrolyzed to form oxygen for crew consumption, as well as hydrogen. The hydrogen is reacted with carbon dioxide, forming water and waste methane gas. Since hydrogen is lost from the desired closed-loop system in the form of methane, there is insufficient hydrogen available to fully react all of the carbon dioxide, resulting in a net loss of oxygen from the loop. In order to further close the oxygen loop, NASA has been developing an advanced plasma pyrolysis technology that further reduces the waste methane to higher hydrocarbons in order to better utilize the hydrogen for oxygen recovery
The NASA objective of expanding the human experience into the far reaches of space requires the development of regenerable life support systems. This work addresses the development of a regenerable air-revitalization system for trace-contaminant (TC) removal for the spacesuit used in extravehicular activities (EVAs). Currently, a bed of granular activated carbon is used for TC control. The carbon is impregnated with phosphoric acid to enhance ammonia sorption, but this also makes regeneration difficult, if not impossible. Temperatures as high as 200 °C have been shown to be required for only partial desorption of ammonia on time scales of 18,140 hours. Neither these elevated temperatures nor the long time needed for sorbent regeneration are acceptable. Thus, the activated carbon has been treated as an expendable resource, and the sorbent bed has been oversized in order to last throughout the entire mission
A life support system generates oxygen in low oxygen and/or hazardous environments such as mining, chemical/biological attacks, nuclear fallout, or space exploration. Based on proven technology, this O2/CO2 control system has the potential to significantly reduce the mass of the oxygen carried into the low oxygen and/or hazardous environment by continuously regenerating the oxygen used by the human subject(s
The regenerative blower provides air flow through structures or systems that have relatively high flow resistance. Specifically, the regenerative blower was designed to provide a flow of ventilation gas through a spacesuit and its portable life support system (PLSS). Since the ventilation gas is primarily oxygen, fire prevention is a critical design requirement
A document discusses the design and prototype of an advanced spacesuit concept that integrates the capability to function seamlessly with multiple ventilation system approaches. Traditionally, spacesuits are designed to operate both dependently and independently of a host vehicle environment control and life support system (ECLSS). Spacesuits that operate independent of vehicle-provided ECLSS services must do so with equipment self-contained within or on the spacesuit. Suits that are dependent on vehicle-provided consumables must remain physically connected to and integrated with the vehicle to operate properly
This ARP covers a procedure to be used in the determination of 0.05 to 0.3 ppm of chlorine in oxygen from any type of generator used for emergency or other life-support systems. The methyl orange method described can be considered as a referee technique. Instrumental analysis is also given in Section 8
Advanced Life Support Sizing Analysis Tool (ALSSAT) at the time of this reporting has been updated to version 6.0. A previous version was described in “Tool for Sizing Analysis of the Advanced Life Support System” (MSC- 23506), NASA Tech Briefs, Vol. 29, No. 12 (December 2005), page 43. To recapitulate: ALSSAT is a computer program for sizing and analyzing designs of environmental- control and life-support systems for spacecraft and surface habitats to be involved in exploration of Mars and the Moon. Of particular interest for analysis by ALSSAT are conceptual designs of advanced life-support (ALS) subsystems that utilize physicochemical and biological processes to recycle air and water and process human wastes to reduce the need of resource resupply
This ARP covers a procedure to be used in the determination of 0.05 to 0.3 ppm of chlorine in oxygen from any type of generator used for emergency or other life-support systems. The methyl orange method described can be considered as a referee technique. Instrumental analysis is also given in Section 8
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