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NASA NTRS2012

Ion Exchange Technology Development in Support of the Urine Processor Assembly Precipitation Prevention Project for the International Space Station

In support of the Urine Processor Assembly Precipitation Prevention Project (UPA PPP), multiple technologies were explored to prevent CaSO4 2H2O (gypsum) precipitation during the on-orbit distillation process. Gypsum precipitation currently limits the water recovery rate onboard the International Space Station (ISS) to 70% versus the planned 85% target water recovery rate. Due to its ability to remove calcium cations in pretreated augmented urine (PTAU), ion exchange was selected as one of the technologies for further development by the PPP team. A total of 13 ion exchange resins were evaluated in various equilibrium and dynamic column tests with solutions of dissolved gypsum, urine ersatz, PTAU, and PTAU brine at 85% water recovery. While initial evaluations indicated that the Purolite SST60 resin had the highest calcium capacity in PTAU (0.30 meq/mL average), later tests showed that the Dowex G26 and Amberlite FPC12H resins had the highest capacity (0.5 meq/mL average). Testing at the Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC) integrates the ion exchange technology with a UPA ground article under flight-like pulsed flow conditions with PTAU. To date, no gypsum precipitation has taken place in any of the initial evaluations.

Mitchell, Julie L.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE): Overview, Accomplishments and Future Needs

Materials and devices used on the exterior of spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO) are subjected to environmental threats that can cause degradation in material properties, possibly threatening spacecraft mission success. These threats include: atomic oxygen (AO), ultraviolet and x-ray radiation, charged particle radiation, temperature extremes and thermal cycling, micrometeoroid and debris impacts, and contamination. Space environmental threats vary greatly based on spacecraft materials, thicknesses and stress levels, and the mission environment and duration. For more than a decade the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) has enabled the study of the long duration environmental durability of spacecraft materials in the LEO environment. The overall objective of MISSE is to test the stability and durability of materials and devices in the space environment in order to gain valuable knowledge on the performance of materials in space, as well as to enable lifetime predictions of new materials that may be used in future space flight. MISSE is a series of materials flight experiments, which are attached to the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). Individual experiments were loaded onto suitcase-like trays, called Passive Experiment Containers (PECs). The PECs were transported to the ISS in the Space Shuttle cargo bay and attached to, and removed from, the ISS during extravehicular activities (EVAs). The PECs were retrieved after one or more years of space exposure and returned to Earth enabling post-flight experiment evaluation. MISSE is a multi-organization project with participants from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense (DoD), industry and academia. MISSE has provided a platform for environmental durability studies for thousands of samples and numerous devices, and it has produced many tangible impacts. Ten PECs (and one smaller tray) have been flown, representing MISSE 1 through MISSE 8, yielding long-duration space environmental performance and durability data that enable material validation, processing recertification and space qualification; improved predictions of materials and component lifetimes in space; model verification and development; and correlation factors between space-exposure and ground-facilities enabling more accurate in-space performance predictions based on ground-laboratory testing. A few of the many experiment results and observations, and their impacts, are provided. Those highlighted include examples on improved understanding of atomic oxygen scattering mechanisms, LEO coating durability results, and polymer erosion yields and their impacts on spacecraft design. The MISSE 2 Atomic Oxygen Scattering Chamber Experiment discovered that the peak flux of scattered AO was determined to be 45 deg from normal incidence, not the model predicted cosine dependence. In addition, the erosion yield (E(sub y)) of Kapton H for AO scattered off oxidized-Al is 22% of the E(sub y) of direct AO impingement. These results were used to help determine the degradation mechanism of a cesium iodide detector within the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph Experiment. The MISSE 6 Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) Degradation Experiment measured surface electrical resistance of ram and wake ITO coated samples. The data confirmed that ITO is a stable AO protective coating, and the results validated the durability of ITO conductive coatings for solar arrays for the Atmosphere-Space Transition 2 Explorer program. The MISSE 2, 6 and 7 Polymer Experiments have provided LEO AO Ey data on over 120 polymer and composites samples. The flight E(sub y) values were found to range from 3.05 x 10(exp -26) cu cm/atom for the AO resistant polymer CORIN to 9.14 x 10(exp -26) cu cm/atom for polyoxymethylene (POM). In addition, flying the same polymers on different missions has advanced the understanding of the AO E(sub y) dependency on solar exposure for polymers containing fluorine. The MISSE polymer results are highly requested and have impacted spacecraft design for WorldView-2 & -3, the Global Precipitation Measurement-Microwave Imager, and other spacecraft. The flight data has enabled the development of an Atomic Oxygen Erosion Predictive Tool that allows the erosion prediction of new and non-flown polymers. The data has also been used to develop a new NASA Technical Standards Handbook "Spacecraft Polymers Atomic Oxygen Durability Handbook." Many intangible benefits have also been derived from MISSE. For example, over 40 students have collaborated on Glenn's MISSE experiments, which have resulted in greater than $80K in student scholarships and awards in national and international science fairs. Students have also given presentations and won poster competition awards at international space conferences.

Flight Experiment↗

NASA NTRS2016

Design Status of the Capillary Brine Residual in Containment Water Recovery System

One of the goals of the AES Life Support System (LSS) Project is to achieve 98% water loop closure for long duration human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit. To meet this objective, the AES LSS Project is developing technologies to recover water from wastewater brine; highly concentrated waste products generated from a primary water recovery system. The state of the art system used aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has the potential to recover up to 85% water from unine wastewater, leaving a significant amounts of water in the waste brine, the recovery of which is critical technology gap that must be filled in order to enable long duration human exploration. Recovering water from the urine wastewater brine is complicated by the concentration of solids as water is removed from the brine, and the concentration of the corrosive, toxic chemicals used to stabilize the urine which fouls and degrades water processing hardware, and poses a hazard to operators and crew. Brine Residual in Containment (BRIC) is focused on solids management through a process of "in-place" drying - the drying of brines within the container used for final disposal. Application of in-place drying has the potential to improve the safety and reliability of the system by reducing the exposure to curew and hardware to the problematic brine residual. Through a collaboration between the NASA Johnson Space Center and Portland Status University, a novel water recovery system was developed that utilizes containment geometry to support passive capillary flow and static phase separation allowing free surface evaporation to take place in a microgravity environment. A notional design for an ISS demonstration system was developed. This paper describes the testing performed to characterize the performance of the system as well as the status of the system level design.

Sargusingh, Miriam J.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Design Status of the Capillary Brine Residual in Containment Water Recovery System

One of the goals of the AES Life Support System (LSS) Project is to achieve 98% water loop closure for long duration human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit. To meet this objective, the AES LSS Project is developing technologies to recover water from wastewater brine; highly concentrated waste products generated from a primary water recovery system. The state of the art system used aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has the potential to recover up to 85% water from unine wastewater, leaving a significant amounts of water in the waste brine, the recovery of which is a critical technology gap that must be filled in order to enable long duration human exploration. Recovering water from the urine wastewater brine is complicated by the concentration of solids as water is removed from the brine, and the concentration of the corrosive, toxic chemicals used to stabilize the urine which fouls and degrades water processing hardware, and poses a hazard to operators and crew. Brine Residual in Containment (BRIC) is focused on solids management through a process of "in-place" drying - the drying of brines within the container used for final disposal. Application of in-place drying has the potential to improve the safety and reliability of the system by reducing the exposure to crew and hardware to the problematic brine residual. Through a collaboration between the NASA Johnson Space Center and Portland Status University, a novel water recovery system was developed that utilizes containment geometry to support passive capillary flow and static phase separation allowing free surface evaporation to take place in a microgravity environment. A notional design for an ISS demonstration system was developed. This paper describes the concept for the system level design.

Callahan, Michael R.↗

NASA NTRS2026

Designing a Propylene-Glycol Coolant Servicer System for Gateway’s Internal Active Thermal Control System

A human spacecraft ATCS—especially one using single-phase coolant loops exposed to cabin atmospheric conditions—requires periodic degassing and refilling to support long-duration missions of 15 to 30 years. During initial fill operations, system maintenance, gas permeation, and quick-disconnect mating or de-mating, small amounts of gas can gradually enter the coolant system over time. This can lead to degraded heat transfer performance, pump cavitation, and potentially pump vapor lock if a significant gas volume accumulates over time. Additionally, system leaks and routine fluid sampling can gradually reduce accumulator volumes to unacceptable levels, requiring periodic refills. In more severe cases, catastrophic changes in fluid composition may necessitate emergency draining, refilling, and degassing to ensure continued system functionality. These risks were identified and mitigated on the ISS ITCS through the development of a dual-membrane degasser ORU and a Fluid Servicer System ORU for coolant refilling. These systems were developed for the fully water-based ISS ITCS Coolant[1]. The Gateway space station, the first permanent human habitat in lunar orbit, uses a propylene-glycol/water coolant mixture, which has significantly different fluid properties compared to pure water. Because microgravity degassing technologies are sensitive to fluid surface tension and viscosity, existing ISS hardware is not suitable for servicing a propylene-glycol-based TCS. Unlike the ISS, the Gateway will operate in a higher-radiation environment and must meet stricter mass constraints due to its location outside of low earth orbit. This Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) flight hardware project aims to develop a lightweight, radiation-resistant Coolant Servicer System (CSS) capable of degassing and refilling Gateway’s propylene-glycol water-based IATCS.

Propylene Glycol Water↗

NASA NTRS2026

Designing a Propylene-Glycol Coolant Servicer System for Gateway’s Internal Active Thermal Control System

Propylene Glycol Water↗

NASA NTRS2011

Ion Exchange Technology Development in Support of the Urine Processor Assembly Precipitation Prevention Project for the International Space Station

In support of the Urine Processor Assembly Precipitation Prevention Project (UPA PPP), multiple technologies were explored to prevent CaSO4 dot 2H2O (gypsum) precipitation during the on-orbit distillation process. Gypsum precipitation currently limits the water recovery rate onboard the International Space Station (ISS) to 70% versus the planned 85% target water recovery rate. Due to its advanced performance in removing calcium cations in pretreated augmented urine (PTAU), ion exchange was selected as one of the technologies for further development by the PPP team. A total of 12 ion exchange resins were evaluated in various equilibrium and dynamic column tests with solutions of dissolved gypsum, urine ersatz, PTAU, and PTAU brine at 85% water recovery. While initial evaluations indicated that the Purolite SST60 resin had the highest calcium capacity in PTAU (0.30 meq/mL average), later tests showed that the Dowex G26 and Amberlite FPC12H resins had the highest capacity (0.5 meq/mL average). Further dynamic column testing proved that G26 performance is +/- 10% of that value at flow rates of 0.45 and 0.79 Lph under continuous flow, and 10.45 Lph under pulsed flow. Testing at the Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC) integrates the ion exchange technology with a UPA ground article under flight-like pulsed flow conditions with PTAU. To date, no gypsum precipitation has taken place in any of the initial evaluations.

Mitchell, Julie L.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Plant Growth Research for Future Food Production - Seed Microbiome Project

Humanity is currently on the precipice of a new era: one where human civilization is no longer bound to the confines of a single planet. Now, organizations like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have extended their areas of research and are beginning to focus not just on getting humans into space, but also to keep them safe, healthy, and sane. This focus falls under the Human Research Program (HRP). A focus of this program is "dedicated to discovering the best methods and technologies to support safe, productive human space travel" [1]. For "safe and productive space travel" to occur, astronauts must have proper nutrition [1]. While sending up large amounts of dried and packaged food with every shuttle might work fairly well in the short term, when only a few people need to be fed, it will not be sustainable, especially as NASA looks toward longer space journeys beyond the Earth's orbit. Research into this area falls under Advanced Life Support (ALS), whose mission is to develop regenerative life support systems to support future NASA long-duration missions [2]. This would involve growing crops in space to supplement astronaut diets [2]. An important, yet often overlooked, part of growing crops in any environment is the microbial organisms that inhabit the plants' microbiomes. The Seed Microbiome Project aims to investigate the microbial presence throughout the life stages of three crops, Mizuna Mustard, 'Outredgeous' Red Romaine Lettuce, and 'Red Robin' Tomato, that have either been or will be grown on the ISS.

Birtell, Eva↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SERFE Thermal Performance Results

SERFE↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SERFE Water Quality Results

NASA has been developing a new spacesuit, called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) for over a decade. This spacesuit is underdevelopment to support missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and also to the Moon. Improvements in the life and robustness of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) has been a major objective of these efforts. Water quality, and how that impacts the performance of the life support system hardware, are areas where improvements could greatly help to achieve these goals. The Suit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) was chosen as the technology to provide cooling to the xEMU and has undergone several iterations of development over this period. An ISS flight experiment centered around the SWME and other thermal loop technologies was developed and has been under test in an ISS EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) rack since November of 2020. In addition to the SWME, The SWME EXPRESS Rack Flight Experiment (SERFE) contains several technology demonstrations from the xEMU project and has been demonstrating their performance in micro-gravity and over an extended duration. This paper will summarize the results of the water quality analysis performed to date throughout the SERFE testing program. Special care was taken to select materials, process hardware, and control the quality of the feedwater used in SERFE testing so that it would be representative of a thermal control system that could be used on a spacesuit for a lunar mission. In addition, the testing schedule, including periods of quiescence in between tests, was also selected to simulate a real mission profile in ways that would be critical to water quality. Results include data and analysis on microbial activity, biocidal iodine, metals, organic carbon, and several other customary indicators of water quality in an operational system. Testing spans over a year and a half of wetted life of the SERFE Flight Unit and the SERFE Ground Unit.

Colin Campbell↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Datascope to Enable Earth Independent Medical Operations (EIMO)

BACKGROUND: NASA has amassed sixty years of knowledge and experience relevant to maintenance of crew health and performance in low earth orbit. The Apollo Program introduced the importance of ensuring progressively autonomous operational capability. Earth Independent Medical Operations (EIMO) will require a gradual shift in the balance of medical responsibility, management, and authority from terrestrial to space-based assets. Terrestrial assets will continue to be essential for pre-mission screening and planning in addition to maintenance of crew health and performance. However, new capabilities are needed to enable EIMO and the amount of data required to support these systems, and mitigate the impacts of data transmission delays and reduced bandwidth coupled with lack of cloud-like resources and on-board computing capacity that is currently unclear or operationally insufficient. OVERVIEW: The overall goal of EIMO is to develop artificial intelligence (AI)-based solutions to analyze crew health and performance data utilizing a clinical decision support system (CDSS) to provide crew medical officers (CMO) with the equivalent of real-time, on-board medical consults. The EIMO ecosystem is envisioned as a “system of systems” where embedded reference databases and real-time data streams from multiple input vectors continuously and seamlessly assess crew health and performance. EIMO will be designed to make recommendations to the CMO using multi-modal AI-based natural language processing and machine learning methods with interoperability to push/pull data within and between multiple vehicle and habitat architectures. DISCUSSION: Data flows and storage/retrieval capacity are severely constrained during space missions and the challenges will become even greater during exploration missions. Just as each past program from Mercury to the International Space Station (ISS) required rethinking the interaction between ground-based controllers and space-based crew, so too will future missions to the Moon and Mars. While the NASA High-Performance Spaceflight Computing Processor project aims to increase computational capacity by 100 times over current spaceflight computers, the projected deliverable still lags considerably behind what will be needed to enable an AI-driven CDSS. Restrictions in processing speed and data storage capacity, coupled with transmission bottlenecks and delays, necessitate definition and optimization of an integrated data architecture to enable a progressively autonomous medical capability.

Medical operations↗

NASA NTRS2024

FLUTE: Fluidic Telescope

The future of space-based UV/optical/IR astronomy requires ever larger telescopes. The highest priority astrophysics targets (including Earth-like exoplanets, first generation stars, and early galaxies) are all extremely faint, which presents an ongoing challenge for current missions and is the opportunity space for next generation telescopes: larger telescopes are the primary way to address this issue. The FLUTE project aims to revolutionize space astronomy (and in-space manufacturing of high-precision optics for a variety of other applications) by leveraging the physics of wetting and hydrostatic phenomena in microgravity. The approach being developed by the team uses surface tension to shape a liquid into a desired optical form with sub-nanometer surface quality. A liquid with appropriate optical properties is brought into contact with a high affinity bounding frame, resulting in pinning of the liquid to the frame. In microgravity, the shape of the free surface is dictated solely by surface tension, thus assuming the shape of a spherical cap. Further dynamic control over the shape is possible through changing the liquid volume, the frame geometry, and — if desired — with the addition of external forces (e.g., electromagnetic forces). The approach is scale-invariant and is expected to enable space telescopes with optical apertures measuring in tens or even hundreds of meters, allowing, for instance, direct imaging of extra-solar planets. Both refractive and reflective optical components can be created using this approach. If the liquid’s properties enable solidification (e.g., a liquid metal), the resulting component can then become an optical-grade solid object, without post-processing steps. The approach has been successfully validated in a laboratory neutral buoyancy environment, in parabolic microgravity flights, and in experiments aboard the International Space Station (ISS). FLUTE is a collaboration between NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. More on information on FLUTE can be found at https://www.nasa.gov/science-research/astrophysics/what-is-the-fluidic-telescope/. This presentation provides an update on the project's accomplishments to-date and discusses next steps.

Space observatory↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Insights and Observations From Operating A Laser Communication Terminal on the International Space Station (ISS)

The Integrated Laser Communication Relay Demonstration (LCRD) Low Earth Orbit User Modem and Amplifier Terminal (ILLUMA-T) is the first user platform for NASA’s first laser communication relay, LCRD. ILLUMA-T is hosted on the International Space Station (ISS) as an external payload of the Japanese Experiment Module – Exposed Facility (JEM-EF) situated in slot 3. The LCRD payload is hosted on the STPSat-6 spacecraft, which orbits Earth in a geostationary orbit at position 112 W. The ILLUMA-T-to-LCRD system provides a bidirectional, space-to-ground laser communication relay link transferring data up to 1.2 Gbps utilizing two optical ground stations (OGS), OGS-1 in California and OGS-2 in Hawai’i. This paper describes lessons learned from operating the ILLUMA-T system and examines topics such as the end-to-end system availability, predictive versus actual ephemeris, acquisition adjustments, modem timing and handshaking, the terminal’s physical placement and accommodations, and experiment development, execution, and analysis. The authors of this paper operate both the LCRD and ILLUMA-T laser terminals on a daily basis including pass planning, procedure execution, acquisition analysis, and real-time terminal commanding and telemetry monitoring. LCRD is a joint project involving NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT LL). The ILLUMA-T payload is managed by NASA GSFC in Greenbelt, Maryland whose partners include the ISS program office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas; the Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama; the Glenn Research Center (GRC) in Cleveland, Ohio; and the MIT LL in Lexington, Massachusetts. ILLUMA-T is funded by the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Laser Communications↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Countermeasures for Mitigation of Sensorimotor Decrements Following Head-Down Bed Rest

BACKGROUND Decrements in functional performance of tasks requiring postural and locomotor control remain common among crewmembers returning to Earth after6months on the International Space Station (ISS). These impairments will presumably be exacerbated after longer exploration-class missions with fewer exercise hardware options. Our recent studies suggest that an in-flight proprioceptive countermeasure may keep the proprioceptive system tuned to respond to upright balance challenges in a gravitational environment. Before testing a proprioceptive countermeasure in-flight, we must conduct an initial proof-of-concept study to determine its potential efficacy in a controlled unloading analog setting. OBJECTIVES We will determine if proprioceptive training during 60 days of 6° head down bed rest (HDBR) mitigates declines in functional task performance. We consider it critical to characterize the interaction between proprioceptive training and exercise. Thus, we will compare 3groupsof subjects(N=12 each): a proprioceptive training group, an exercise plus proprioceptive training group, and a control group(i.e. no training or exercise).The primary outcome measure will be the well-established and operationally relevant seat egress and walk test (also referred to as the functional mobility test)performed before and after HDBR. Other functional tests will also represent high priority exploration mission tasks that require high demand for dynamic control of postural stability. Additional measures will be used to identify the key physiological factors contributing to countermeasure benefits. COUNTERMEASURE METHODS We will use a ground version of our countermeasure to test the efficacy of proprioceptive training while maintaining HDBR constraints. Subjects will remain in the horizontal supine position on a sled that moves freely on air-bearings, similar to a puck on an air hockey table. Subjects will be loaded axially up to one full body weight via lateral cable pulleys towards their feet on an instrumented tilt board using a harness and weights system. Visual feedback of board tilt will be used to guide subjects while they make active tilts. Exercise and proprioceptive training prescriptions will represent those expected to be implemented during exploration spaceflight missions(e.g.20-minute proprioceptive training sessions3 times per week). RELEVANCE The deliverable from this project will be a proof-of-concept countermeasure design that has been fully assessed for efficacy in a spaceflight analog. The findings and lessons learned from this study will be translated for validation of this countermeasure on the ISS. An effective countermeasure will be added to the suite of operationally implemented in-flight sensorimotor countermeasures.

T R Macaulay↗

NASA NTRS1999

X-38 V201 Avionics Architecture

The X-38 is an experimental NASA project developing a core human capable spacecraft at a fraction of the cost of any previous human rated vehicle. The first operational derivative developed from the X-38 program will be the International Space Station (ISS) Crew Return Vehicle (CRV). Although the current X-38 vehicles are designed as re-entry vehicles only, the option exists to modify the vehicle for uses as an upward vehicle launched from an expendable launch vehicle or from the X-33 operational derivative. The Operational CRV, that will be derived from the X-38 spaceflight vehicle, will provide an emergency return capability from the International Space Station (ISS). The spacecraft can hold a crew of up to seven inside a pressurized cabin. The CRV is passively delivered to ISS, stays up to three year on-orbit attached to ISS in a passive mode with periodic functional checkout, before separation from ISS, de-orbit, entry and landing. The X-38 Vehicle 201 (V201) is being developed at NASA/JSC to demonstrate key technologies associated with the development of the CRV design. The X-38 flight test will validate the low cost development concept by demonstrating the entire station departure, re-entry, guidance and landing portions of the CRV mission. All new technologies and subsystems proposed for CRV will be validated during either the on orbit checkout or flight phases of the X-38 space flight test. The X-38 subsystems are required to be similar to those subsystems required for the CRV to the greatest extent possible. In many cases, the subsystems are identical to those that will be utilized on the Operational CRV.

Bedos, Thierry↗

NASA NTRS2014

Passive Thermal Design Approach for the Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Testbed Experiment on the International Space Station (ISS)

The Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) Program Office at NASA Headquarters oversees all of NASAs space communications activities. SCaN manages and directs the ground-based facilities and services provided by the Deep Space Network (DSN), Near Earth Network (NEN), and the Space Network (SN). Through the SCaN Program Office, NASA GRC developed a Software Defined Radio (SDR) testbed experiment (SCaN testbed experiment) for use on the International Space Station (ISS). It is comprised of three different SDR radios, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) radio, Harris Corporation radio, and the General Dynamics Corporation radio. The SCaN testbed experiment provides an on-orbit, adaptable, SDR Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) - based facility to conduct a suite of experiments to advance the Software Defined Radio, Space Telecommunications Radio Systems (STRS) standards, reduce risk (Technology Readiness Level (TRL) advancement) for candidate Constellation future space flight hardware software, and demonstrate space communication links critical to future NASA exploration missions. The SCaN testbed project provides NASA, industry, other Government agencies, and academic partners the opportunity to develop and field communications, navigation, and networking technologies in the laboratory and space environment based on reconfigurable, software defined radio platforms and the STRS Architecture.The SCaN testbed is resident on the P3 Express Logistics Carrier (ELC) on the exterior truss of the International Space Station (ISS). The SCaN testbed payload launched on the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) and was installed on the ISS P3 ELC located on the inboard RAM P3 site. The daily operations and testing are managed out of NASA GRC in the Telescience Support Center (TSC).

Passive Thermal Design↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Understanding Plant Nitrogen Form Preference Responses to Elevated CO2 Earth and Space Environments

Future long-duration missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and beyond will require a sustainable supply of food to support human crews. The spaceflight cabin environment often contains very high concentrations of CO2, and it is therefore crucial to understand plant responses to elevated CO2 (eCO2) environments. Much focus has been given to plant photosynthetic and performance parameters in response to eCO2, but studies on the effects of eCO2 on nitrogen uptake are poorly understood. Our previous work at The University of Sheffield, UK using novel stable isotope approaches has shown enhanced ammonium uptake and preference compared to nitrate at eCO2 in varieties of spring barley, hypothesized to be an indirect consequence of changes in photosynthesis and photorespiration. However, several varieties did not display altered preference under eCO2 and the universality of this response remains to be understood. In this NASA NPP project, several candidate crop species such as lettuce, radish and tomato will be screened using stable isotopes to assess whether N preference changes in favor of ammonium in response to eCO2 and whether this remains true at super-elevated CO2 (seCO2), which is often experienced on the ISS. Photosynthetic and related measurements will help to disentangle the relationship between these responses and photosynthesis. This work will enable the development of optimized nutrient regimes for candidate crops in space and in future Lunar and Martian habitats and will pave the way for selection of crop varieties adapted to an eCO2 and/or seCO2 environment. Moreover, this research will further our understanding of plant responses to the eCO2 environment brought about by climate change, allowing the development of future-proof crops that will help to maintain food security. This NPP Fellowship is funded by NASA Space Biology.

Luke Leslie Fountain↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Understanding Plant Nitrogen Form Preference Responses to Elevated CO2 Earth and Spaceflight Cabin Environments

Future long-duration missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and beyond will require a sustainable supply of food to support human crews. The spaceflight cabin environment often contains very high concentrations of CO2, and it is therefore crucial to understand plant responses to elevated CO2 (eCO2) environments. Much focus has been given to plant photosynthetic and performance parameters in response to eCO2, but studies on the effects of eCO2 on nitrogen uptake are poorly understood. Our previous work at The University of Sheffield, UK using novel stable isotope approaches has shown enhanced ammonium uptake and preference compared to nitrate at eCO2 in varieties of spring barley, hypothesised to be an indirect consequence of changes in photosynthesis and photorespiration. However, several varieties did not display altered preference under eCO2 and the universality of this response remains to be understood. In this NASA NPP project, several candidate crop species such as lettuce, radish and tomato will be screened using stable isotopes to assess whether N preference changes in favor of ammonium in response to eCO2 and whether this remains true at super-elevated CO2 (seCO2), which is often experienced on the ISS. Photosynthetic and related measurements will help to disentangle the relationship between these responses and photosynthesis. This work will enable the development of optimized nutrient regimes for candidate crops in space and in future Lunar and Martian habitats and will pave the way for selection of crop varieties adapted to an eCO2 and/or seCO2 environment. Moreover, this research will further our understanding of plant responses to the eCO2 environment brought about by climate change, allowing the development of future-proof crops that will help to maintain food security. This NPP Fellowship is funded by NASA Space Biology.

Luke Fountain↗