Preliminary Study on Using a NASA Coatings Technology for Protecting Natural Science Collections from Molecular Contaminants
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Super-Dwarf wheat plants were grown in the Russian/Bulgarian growth chamber called Svet (means light in Russian), in Space Station Mir, from August 12 to November 9, 1995 (90 days) and from August 5 to December 6, 1996 (123 days); a second 1996 crop grew from December 6, 1996 to January 14, 1997 (39 days). Environmental monitoring instrumentation was built at Utah State University and added to Svet for the experiments. That instrumentation functioned well in 1995, but four of six lamp sets (two lamps in each set) failed, as did the controller and a fan. Plants stayed alive but were mostly vegetative (contrary to ground controls under equivalent photon flux). New, higher intensity lamps and other equipment functioned well during 1996, and plants grew surprisingly well, producing about 280 heads and considerable biomass, but the heads were all sterile. A strong case can be made that the sterility was caused by high ethylene in the cabin atmosphere.
Contamination due to oxygen or oxide layer formation is a major concern in containerless processing of metallic melts.
Electrochemical double-layer capacitors are finding increased use in a wide range of energy storage applications, particularly where high pulse power capabilities are required. Double-layer capacitors store charge at a liquid/solid interface, making them ideal for low temperature power applications, due to the facile kinetic processes associated with the rearrangement of the electrochemical double-layer at these temperatures. Potential low temperature applications include hybrid and electric vehicles, operations in polar regions, high altitude aircraft and aerospace avionics, and distributed environmental and structural health monitoring. State-of-the-art capacitors can typically operate to -40 C, with a subsequent degradation in power performance below room temperature. However, recent efforts focused on advanced electrolyte and electrode systems can enable operation to temperatures as low as -70 C, with capacities similar to room temperature values accompanied by reasonably low equivalent series resistances. This presentation will provide an overview of recent development efforts to extend and improve the wide temperature performance of these devices.
In support of air revitalization system sorbent selection for future space missions, Ames Research Center (ARC) has performed CO2 capacity tests on various solid sorbents to complement structural strength tests conducted at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). The materials of interest are: Grace Davison Grade 544 13X, Honeywell UOP APG III, LiLSX VSA-10, BASF 13X, and Grace Davison Grade 522 5A. CO2 capacity was for all sorbent materials using a Micromeritics ASAP 2020 Physisorption Volumetric Analysis machine to produce 0C, 10C, 25C, 50C, and 75C isotherms. These data are to be used for modeling data and to provide a basis for continued sorbent research. The volumetric analysis method proved to be effective in generating consistent and repeatable data for the 13X sorbents, but the method needs to be refined to tailor to different sorbents.
The Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) is a sprayable coatings technology that was developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The coating was designed to address molecular contamination concerns on or near sensitive surfaces and instruments within the spacecraft for flight or ground-based applications in vacuum conditions. This paper will discuss the use of NASA's MAC technology to isolate and protect the critical laser flight optics of the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). MAC was strategically used during thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing efforts to reduce the risk of contaminating the laser optical components from non-baked items and other unknown outgassing sources from the chamber environment. This paper summarizes the design and implementation efforts, and the chemical analysis of the MAC samples that were used during two recent TVAC tests for the ICESat-2/ATLAS mission.
The Molecular Adsorber Coating (MAC) is a sprayable coatings technology that was developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The coating was designed to address molecular contamination concerns on or near sensitive surfaces and instruments within the spacecraft for flight or ground-based applications in vacuum conditions. This paper will discuss the use of NASA's MAC technology to isolate and protect the critical laser flight optics of the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS) instrument on the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2). MAC was strategically used during thermal vacuum (TVAC) testing efforts to reduce the risk of contaminating the laser optical components from non-baked items and other unknown outgassing sources from the chamber environment. This paper summarizes the design and implementation efforts, and the chemical analysis of the MAC samples that were used during two recent TVAC tests for the ICESat-2/ATLAS mission.
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NASA’s space missions demand better and more efficient carbon dioxide removal systems. wo challenges present themselves in improving the state of the art pellet adsorption beds: power minimization and uniform heating for carbon dioxide desorption. Titanium heat pipes and vapor chambers were found to be excellent candidates in solving these problems because of their passive heating nature, tolerance to high temperatures, and capability of direct implementation into these adsorbent beds.This research work compares these different titanium heat pipes (HPs) and vapor chambers (VPs).