Cox, Marlon R. | Engineering Papers

NASA NTRS2014

Next Generation Life Support Project Status

Next Generation Life Support (NGLS) is one of over twenty technology development projects sponsored by NASA's Game Changing Development Program. The NGLS Project develops selected life support technologies needed for humans to live and work productively in space, with focus on technologies for future use in spacecraft cabin and space suit applications. Over the last three years, NGLS had five main project elements: Variable Oxygen Regulator (VOR), Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) swing bed, High Performance (HP) Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Glove, Alternative Water Processor (AWP) and Series-Bosch Carbon Dioxide Reduction. The RCA swing bed, VOR and HP EVA Glove tasks are directed at key technology needs for the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) and pressure garment for an Advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). Focus is on prototyping and integrated testing in cooperation with the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Advanced EVA Project. The HP EVA Glove Element, new this fiscal year, includes the generation of requirements and standards to guide development and evaluation of new glove designs. The AWP and Bosch efforts focus on regenerative technologies to further close spacecraft cabin atmosphere revitalization and water recovery loops and to meet technology maturation milestones defined in NASA's Space Technology Roadmaps. These activities are aimed at increasing affordability, reliability, and vehicle self-sufficiency while decreasing mass and mission cost, supporting a capability-driven architecture for extending human presence beyond low-Earth orbit, along a human path toward Mars. This paper provides a status of current technology development activities with a brief overview of future plans.

Barta, Daniel J.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Space Suit Environment Testing of the Orion Atmosphere Revitalization Technology

An amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent in pressure-swing regenerable beds has been developed by Hamilton Sundstrand and baselined for the Orion Atmosphere Revitalization System (ARS). In three previous years at this conference, reports were presented on extensive Johnson Space Center (JSC) testing of this technology. That testing was performed in a sea-level pressure environment with both simulated and real human metabolic loads, and in both open and closed-loop configurations. The Orion ARS is designed to also support space-suited operations in a depressurized cabin, so the next step in developmental testing at JSC was to test the ARS technology in a typical closed space suit-loop environment with low-pressure oxygen inside the process loop and vacuum outside the loop. This was the first instance of low-pressure, high-oxygen, closed-loop testing of the Orion ARS technology, and it was conducted with simulated human metabolic loads in March 2009. The test investigated pressure drops and flow balancing through two different styles of prototype suit umbilical connectors. General swing-bed performance was tested with both umbilical configurations, as well as with a short jumper line installed in place of the umbilicals. Other interesting results include observations on the thermal effects of swing-bed operation in a vacuum environment and a recommendation of cycle time to maintain acceptable suit atmospheric CO2 and moisture levels.

Button, Amy B.↗