SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Space Suits”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 613 records · Page 34

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Human Thermal Assessment of Traverse and Geology Task Iterations During Simulated Lunar Extravehicular Activity

Spacewalks or extravehicular activities (EVA) in microgravity are mentally and physically demanding. Current microgravity EVAs are predominantly focused on upper body tasks on engineered surfaces; however, the introduction of gravity means that crew members during future lunar EVAs will be required to perform tasks that generate full body workloads such as navigating natural lunar terrain while conducting geological sampling. To date, only 12 people have walked on the surface of the Moon resulting in limited knowledge of suited thermal regulation under lunar-relevant physical workloads. To address this gap, a study is underway to focus on spacesuit operations with simulated lunar EVA workloads. This study presents methodology for collecting standard thermal measures during suit testing. In this pilot study, two suited subjects underwent simulated lunar EVAs using the NASA Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) to simulate the effects of partial gravity. Each lunar EVA, lasting three to five hours, included various metabolically demanding EVA tasks. Subjects donned the NASA Mark III (MK III) space suit and were offloaded to 1/6th G (lunar gravity). A subset task circuit from one of these simulations replicated an EVA traverse to a lunar crater, taking a geological sample, and returning to base. The suited subject walked one 1500 m (0% grade) and three 500 m traverses at three different grades (10, 20, 30%). Between each traverse, subjects performed geology sampling tasks (0 and 10% grade). Thermal measurements included core and skin temperature, liquid cooling garment (LCG) inlet and outlet temperature, and spacesuit gas inlet and outlet temperature and humidity. Compared to baseline core temperature (S1 = 37.07±0.32 °C, S2 = 37.27±0.01 °C) and mean skin temperature (S1 = 32.38±0.34 °C, S2 = 33.62±0.03 °C), after a 1500 m traverse, each suited subject showed an increased core temperature (S1 = 37.23±0.12 °C, S2 = 37.41±0.11°C) and decreased mean skin temperature (S1 = 32.16±0.17 °C, S2 = 31.53±1.15 °C) at a delta LCG temperature (S1 = 1.86±0.24 °C, S2 = 2.20±0.76 °C) and delta suit humidity (S1 = 9.66±1.49 %, S2 = 11.50±1.58 %). Core temperature continued to increase from compounding traverse and geology tasks (S1 = 38.04±0.03 °C, S2 = 38.1±0.02 °C) accompanied by an increase in delta LCG temperature (S1 = 2.24±0.13 °C, S2 = 2.67±0.12 °C) and delta suit humidity (S1 = 28±2.42 %, S2 = 31±2.13 %). Conversely, as the circuit progressed, mean skin temperature continued to decrease due to sustained LCG heat rejection (S1 = 30.08±0.15 °C, S2 = 30.28±0.07 °C). During the simulated EVA circuit core temperature increased to elevated values and remained elevated as heat was retained while mean skin temperature decreased due to peripheral heat offloaded to the LCG. The thermal measures collected during this study provided critical heat loading dynamics during lunar EVA tasks. Including core and skin temperatures along with suited thermal measures provides a standard data collection scheme for human thermal metrics during EVA task management. Data collected in this configuration can be used to build future lunar EVA task circuits and human thermal predictions.

Bradley Hoffmann↗

NASA NTRS2005

Spool Valve for Switching Air Flows Between Two Beds

U.S. Patent 6,142,151 describes a dual-bed ventilation system for a space suit, with emphasis on a multiport spool valve that switches air flows between two chemical beds that adsorb carbon dioxide and water vapor. The valve is used to alternately make the air flow through one bed while exposing the other bed to the outer-space environment to regenerate that bed through vacuum desorption of CO2 and H2O. Oxygen flowing from a supply tank is routed through a pair of periodically switched solenoid valves to drive the spool valve in a reciprocating motion. The spool valve equalizes the pressures of air in the beds and the volumes of air flowing into and out of the beds during the alternations between the adsorption and desorption phases, in such a manner that the volume of air that must be vented to outer space is half of what it would be in the absence of pressure equalization. Oxygen that has been used to actuate the spool valve in its reciprocating motion is released into the ventilation loop to replenish air lost to vacuum during the previous desorption phase of the operating cycle.

Dean, W. Clark↗

NASA NTRS1985

The WPI space glove design project

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) was one of four colleges and universities awarded NASA grants for student design and development of an improved glove for space suits. This paper traces the design, development and testing of the WPI prototype glove. Test results showed that the glove did not significantly limit hand and finger motion when pressurized at 8 psi, except in the spherical grip mode. This project demonstrated that problems originating from space technology provide excellent vehicles for student learning and can generate creative solutions.

Durgin, W. W.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Tactile Data Entry for Extravehicular Activity

In the task-saturated environment of extravehicular activity (EVA), an astronaut's ability to leverage suit-integrated information systems is limited by a lack of options for data entry. In particular, bulky gloves inhibit the ability to interact with standard computing interfaces such as a mouse or keyboard. This paper presents the results of a preliminary investigation into a system that permits the space suit gloves themselves to be used as data entry devices. Hand motion tracking is combined with simple finger gesture recognition to enable use of a virtual keyboard, while tactile feedback provides touch-based context to the graphical user interface (GUI) and positive confirmation of keystroke events. In human subject trials, conducted with twenty participants using a prototype system, participants entered text significantly faster with tactile feedback than without (p = 0.02). The results support incorporation of vibrotactile information in a future system that will enable full touch typing and general mouse interactions using instrumented EVA gloves.

Adams, Richard J.↗

NASA NTRS2007

The Walkback Test: A Study to Evaluate Suit and Life Support System Performance Requirements for a 10 Kilometer Traverse in a Planetary Suit

As planetary suit and planetary life support systems develop, specific design inputs for each system relate to a presently unanswered question concerning operational concepts: What distance can be considered a safe walking distance for a suited EVA crew member exploring the surface of the Moon to "walk-back" to the habitat in the event of a rover breakdown, taking into consideration the planned EVA tasks as well as the possible traverse back to the habitat? It has been assumed, based on Apollo program experience, that 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) will be the maximum EVA excursion distance from the lander or habitat to ensure the crew member s safe return to the habitat in the event of a rover failure. To investigate the feasibility of performing a suited 10 km Walkback, NASA-JSC assembled a multi-disciplinary team to design and implement the Lunar Walkback Test . The test was designed not only to determine the feasibility of a 10 km excursion, but also to collect human performance, biomedical, and biomechanical data relevant to optimizing space suit design and life support system sizing. These data will also be used to develop follow-on studies to understand interrelationships of such key parameters as suit mass, inertia, suit pressure, and center of gravity (CG), and the respective influences of each on human performance.

Vos, Jessica R.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Electrodynamic Dust Shield for Space Applications

ISECG↗

NASA NTRS2016

Electrodynamic Dust Shield for Space Applications

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) has chosen dust mitigation technology as a Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) critical technology need in order to reduce life cycle cost and risk, and increase the probability of mission success. NASA has also included Particulate Contamination Prevention and Mitigation as a cross-cutting technology to be developed for contamination prevention, cleaning and protection. This technology has been highlighted due to the detrimental effect of dust on both human and robotic missions. During manned Apollo missions, dust caused issues with both equipment and crew. Contamination of equipment caused many issues including incorrect instrument readings and increased temperatures due to masking of thermal radiators. The astronauts were directly affected by dust that covered space suits, obscured face shields and later propagated to the cabin and into the crew's eyes and lungs. Robotic missions on Mars were affected when solar panels were obscured by dust thereby reducing the effectiveness of the solar panels. The Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab in Swamp Works at the Kennedy Space Center has been developing an Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) to remove dust from multiple surfaces, including glass shields and thermal radiators. This technology has been tested in lab environments and has evolved over several years. Tests of the technology include reduced gravity flights (6g) in which Apollo Lunar dust samples were successfully removed from glass shields while under vacuum (1 millipascal). Further development of the technology is underway to reduce the size of the EDS as well as to perform material and component testing outside of the International Space Station (ISS) on the Materials on International Space Station Experiment X (MISSE-X). This experiment is designed to verify that the EDS can withstand the harsh environment of space and will look to closely replicate the solar environment experienced on the moon. A second flight opportunity exists to provide an EDS to several companies as part of NASA's Lunar CATALYST program. The current mission concept would fly the EDS on the footpad of one of the Lunar CATALYST vehicles. To determine the effectiveness of the EDS system, image analysis will be performed on the footpad before, during and after EDS activation. If successful in these test flights, the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of the EDS will be raised to a sufficient level to be used in the protection of mission equipment for future NASA and commercial missions to the moon, asteroids, and Mars.

Dust mitigation↗

NASA NTRS1995

Sprint: The first flight demonstration of the external work system robots

The External Works Systems (EWS) 'X Program' is a new NASA initiative that will, in the next ten years, develop a new generation of space robots for active and participative support of zero g external operations. The robotic development will center on three areas: the assistant robot, the associate robot, and the surrogate robot that will support external vehicular activities (EVA) prior to and after, during, and instead of space-suited human external activities respectively. The EWS robotics program will be a combination of technology developments and flight demonstrations for operational proof of concept. The first EWS flight will be a flying camera called 'Sprint' that will seek to demonstrate operationally flexible, remote viewing capability for EVA operations, inspections, and contingencies for the space shuttle and space station. This paper describes the need for Sprint and its characteristics.

Price, Charles R.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Flame Retardant Fibers for Human Space Exploration - Past, Present, and Future

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has led the development of unique flame retardant fibers for the specific requirements of different space programs. Three of these fibers have greatly contributed to the safety of all the space missions since the Apollo program. Beta alumina-silica microfiber developed for the outer layer of the space suit after the Apollo 1 fire is no longer used and has been replaced by other glass fibers. Expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) fiber used in the current spacesuit is mostly known today through its trade mark Gore-Tex®. Polybenzimidazole (PBI) filament fiber used in many applications from the Apollo to the Space Shuttle program is no longer available. More recently, TOR"TM" copolymer of polyimide fiber developed during the space shuttle program to resist the atomic oxygen present in Low Earth Orbit has been barely used. The high cost and narrow range of aeronautical and aerospace applications have, however, led to a limited production of these fibers. Only fibers that found niche markets survived. Yet, deep space exploration will require more of these inherently flame retardant fibers than what is available today. There is a need for new flame retardant fabrics inside the space vehicles as well as a need for logistics reduction for long term space missions. Materials like modacrylic and polyimide are good candidates for future flame retardant aerospace fabrics. New fabrics must be developed for astronauts' clothing, as well as crew quarters and habitat. Therefore, both staple and filament fibers of various linear densities are needed for a three years mission to Mars.

Orndoff, Evelyne↗

NASA NTRS1993

Metal hydride heat pump engineering demonstration and evaluation model

Future generations of portable life support systems (PLSS's) for space suites (extravehicular mobility units or EMU's) may require regenerable nonventing thermal sinks (RNTS's). For purposes of mobility, a PLSS must be as light and compact as possible. Previous venting PLSS's have employed water sublimators to reject metabolic and equipment heat from EMU's. It is desirable for long-duration future space missions to minimize the use of water and other consumables that need to be periodically resupplied. The emission of water vapor also interferes with some types of instrumentation that might be used in future space exploration. The test article is a type of RNTS based on a metal hydride heat pump (MHHP). The task of reservicing EMU's after use must be made less demanding in terms of time, procedures, and equipment. The capability for quick turnaround post-EVA servicing (30 minutes) is a challenging requirement for many of the RNTS options. The MHHP is a very simple option that can be regenerated in the airlock within the 30 minute limit by the application of a heating source and a cooling sink. In addition, advanced PLSS's must provide a greater degree of automatic control, relieving astronauts of the need to manually adjust temperatures in their liquid cooled ventilation garments (LCVG's). The MHHP includes automatic coolant controls with the ability to follow thermal load swings from minimum to maximum in seconds. The MHHP includes a coolant loop subsystem with pump and controls, regeneration equipment for post-EVA servicing, and a PC-based data acquisition and control system (DACS).

Lynch, Franklin E.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Developing a Tool to Collect Microbiological Samples in Space

We developed and tested a tool to collect aseptic samples during extravehicular activity or space walks. This tool can withstand the extreme temperature (-92 – 90 ˚C) and pressure variations without compromising the sterility of the collection device or the integrity of the sample. Results from ground testing the tool demonstrate that external surfaces of space suits are not sterile and that a wide variety of human associated bacteria and some fungi can survive at least seven hours of exposure to vacuum. These bacteria include non-spore forming organisms like Staphylococcus that are not normally considered extremophiles We plan to use this tool to characterize the exterior of the International Space Station. We expect the results of this work to guide the planetary protection requirements and contamination control strategy for crewed missions to Mars. This tool could also be used to monitor contamination associated with the Artemis missions to the moon or collect aseptic samples robotically in environments that are not suitable for human exploration.

A B Regberg↗

NASA NTRS1980

Protective clothing textile research for space activities in the 1980's

Textile and clothing specifications for space activities are discussed, emphasizing a chronological and utilitarian role. New fabrication techniques led to the Mercury Space Suit, a constant-wear hybrid of the omni-environmental full pressure suit used by high-flying pilots of the 1950s. The Gemini program (1964-1966) provided the first specifically designed protective clothing assembly for both intra- and extravehicular operations. The G4C, used for EV (extravehicular) activities, protected the astronaut against solar radiation, heat loss, and meteoroid penetration. The clothing for the Apollo program (1968-1975) mirrored a greater concern for fire safety with Durette (a halogenated polyamide) and PBI (polybenzimadazole) widely used for intravehicular garments. With the advent of the Shuttle program, cabin pressure and composition were changed from 6 psi, 100% oxygen to 9-14 psi, 23.4% oxygen, 76.6% N2. As a result, 'off-the-shelf' materials were used without compromising fire safety. Reusability was stressed, as textile costs and durability were now important selection criteria noting that existing textile materials will probably be adequate for the next 20 years of space operations and research. A portable lunar survival shelter made of textiles is being developed; and a preliminary design for an EV 'tunnel suit system' (an access tunnel and homoform work station) is already in existence.

Radnofsky, M. I.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Overview of EVA PRA for TPS Repair for Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission

Following the Columbia accident in 2003, NASA developed techniques to repair the Thermal Protection System (TPS) in the event of damage to the TPS as one of several actions to reduce the risk to future flights from ascent debris, micro-meteoroid and/or orbital debris (MMOD). Other actions to help reduce the risk include improved inspection techniques, reduced shedding of debris from the External Tank and ability to rescue the crew with a launch on need vehicle. For the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Servicing Mission the crew rescue capability was limited by the inability to safe haven on the International Space Station (ISS), resulting in a greater reliance on the repair capability. Therefore it was desirable to have an idea of the risk associated with conducting a repair, where the repair would have to be conducted using an Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA). Previously, focused analyses had been conducted to quantify the risk associated with certain aspects of an EVA, for example the EVA Mobility Unit (EMU) or Space Suit; however, the analyses were somewhat limited in scope. A complete integrated model of an EVA which could quantify the risk associated with all of the major components of an EVA had never been done before. It was desired to have a complete integrated model to be able to assess the risks associated with an EVA to support the Space Shuttle Program (SSP) in making risk informed decisions. In the case of the HST Servicing Mission, this model was developed to assess specifically the risks associated with performing a TPS repair EVA. This paper provides an overview of the model that was developed to support the HST mission in the event of TPS damage. The HST Servicing Mission was successfully completed on May 24th 2009 with no critical TPS damage; therefore the model was not required for real-time mission support. However, it laid the foundation upon which future EVA quantitative risk assessments could be based.

Bigler, Mark↗

NASA NTRS2020

Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Office Exploration EVA System Technical Standards

The purpose of this Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Office specification is to define the types of Programmatic-level standards to be used for design, manufacturing, testing, and quality control for the Exploration EVA (xEVA) System. The xEVA system includes both space suits and EVA hardware elements (e. EVA Tools, Airlock hardware, etc.). Many of the standards referenced in this document can be substituted for similar standards used in industry; this document provides the scope of which standards need to be considered. This document is the EVA-centric implementation of Chapter 3 of NPR 7120.10, Technical Standards for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Programs and Projects: Select technical standards for use as program/project requirements. This also addresses the intent of Section 2.2.6 of NPR 8705.2, Human-Rating Requirements for Space Systems.

EVA↗

NASA NTRS2023

Trades, Architecture, and Design of the Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics (Joint AR) Product

Future expeditions will enable exploration and study of the planetary surfaces of the Moon and Mars by performing extravehicular activity (EVA) operations. Present-day International Space Station (ISS) EVA operations require an intricate and tight choreography of crew, space suits, tools, systems, and flight teams to plan, train, and execute with limited advanced informatics. Additionally, EVA operations, aside from the Apollo Lunar surface missions, have predominately focused on maintenance and construction tasks where success criteria are clearly measurable. However, future exploration missions expect to enable crew to carry out scientific objectives in increasingly Earth-independent ways. In this paper, the Joint Augmented Reality Visual Informatics System (Joint AR) characterizes the design space for developing a modular augmented reality (AR) device for a spacesuit form factor that can support crew decision-making for EVA. This paper highlights the project’s experience with a product-focused management style and use-case centered systems engineering approach to iteratively design, build, and test. The Joint AR product features were defined via trade studies and market analysis of previous EVA display efforts, various AR components such as optics, commercial AR systems, light engines, data interfaces, graphics engine software and analog test beds. We outline the defining architectural design decisions, including safety criticality considerations, suit mounting interfaces, computer architectures, and partnership contracting mechanisms. The outcomes of these studies, architecture decisions, and management requirements result in a recommended design which is the Joint AR product. We discuss the evolution, development of these system components, and what work remains. We hope to share a unified understanding of various design decisions and how they impact the future of crew members’ access to data during Lunar and Martian EVAs. This ongoing effort can enable a community-wide discovery process toward realizing necessary AR features and capabilities for future missions.

Augmented Reality↗

NASA NTRS2010

Constraint and Flight Rule Management for Space Mission Operations

The exploration of space is one of the most fascinating domains to study from a human factors perspective. Like other complex work domains such as aviation (Pritchett and Kim, 2008), air traffic management (Durso and Manning, 2008), health care (Morrow, North, and Wickens, 2006), homeland security (Cooke and Winner, 2008), and vehicle control (Lee, 2006), space exploration is a large-scale sociotechnical work domain characterized by complexity, dynamism, uncertainty, and risk in real-time operational contexts (Perrow, 1999; Woods et al, 1994). Nearly the entire gamut of human factors issues - for example, human-automation interaction (Sheridan and Parasuraman, 2006), telerobotics, display and control design (Smith, Bennett, and Stone, 2006), usability, anthropometry (Chaffin, 2008), biomechanics (Marras and Radwin, 2006), safety engineering, emergency operations, maintenance human factors, situation awareness (Tenney and Pew, 2006), crew resource management (Salas et al., 2006), methods for cognitive work analysis (Bisantz and Roth, 2008) and the like -- are applicable to astronauts, mission control, operational medicine, Space Shuttle manufacturing and assembly operations, and space suit designers as they are in other work domains (e.g., Bloomberg, 2003; Bos et al, 2006; Brooks and Ince, 1992; Casler and Cook, 1999; Jones, 1994; McCurdy et al, 2006; Neerincx et aI., 2006; Olofinboba and Dorneich, 2005; Patterson, Watts-Perotti and Woods, 1999; Patterson and Woods, 2001; Seagull et ai, 2007; Sierhuis, Clancey and Sims, 2002). The human exploration of space also has unique challenges of particular interest to human factors research and practice. This chapter provides an overview of those issues and reports on some of the latest research results as well as the latest challenges still facing the field.

Barreiro, J.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Human Factors in Space Exploration

The exploration of space is one of the most fascinating domains to study from a human factors perspective. Like other complex work domains such as aviation (Pritchett and Kim, 2008), air traffic management (Durso and Manning, 2008), health care (Morrow, North, and Wickens, 2006), homeland security (Cooke and Winner, 2008), and vehicle control (Lee, 2006), space exploration is a large-scale sociotechnical work domain characterized by complexity, dynamism, uncertainty, and risk in real-time operational contexts (Perrow, 1999; Woods et ai, 1994). Nearly the entire gamut of human factors issues - for example, human-automation interaction (Sheridan and Parasuraman, 2006), telerobotics, display and control design (Smith, Bennett, and Stone, 2006), usability, anthropometry (Chaffin, 2008), biomechanics (Marras and Radwin, 2006), safety engineering, emergency operations, maintenance human factors, situation awareness (Tenney and Pew, 2006), crew resource management (Salas et aI., 2006), methods for cognitive work analysis (Bisantz and Roth, 2008) and the like -- are applicable to astronauts, mission control, operational medicine, Space Shuttle manufacturing and assembly operations, and space suit designers as they are in other work domains (e.g., Bloomberg, 2003; Bos et al, 2006; Brooks and Ince, 1992; Casler and Cook, 1999; Jones, 1994; McCurdy et ai, 2006; Neerincx et aI., 2006; Olofinboba and Dorneich, 2005; Patterson, Watts-Perotti and Woods, 1999; Patterson and Woods, 2001; Seagull et ai, 2007; Sierhuis, Clancey and Sims, 2002). The human exploration of space also has unique challenges of particular interest to human factors research and practice. This chapter provides an overview of those issues and reports on sorne of the latest research results as well as the latest challenges still facing the field.

FROM↗

NASA NTRS1999

Dust on Mars: An Aeolian Threat to Human Exploration?

The NASA HEDS Program is duly concerned for human explorers regarding the potential hazard posed by the ubiquitous dust mantle on Mars. To evaluate properties of dust that could be hazardous to humans, the MPS 2001 Lander payload will include the Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA) experiment. This includes optical and atomic-force microscopy to evaluate soil grains for shape and size, wet chemistry to evaluate toxic substances, electrometry to evaluate triboelectric charging, and test-material palets to evaluate electrostatic and magnetic adhesion, and the hardness/abrasiveness of soil grains; these experimental subcomponents are delivered samples by the camera-equipped robotic arm of the lander which will acquire material from depths of 0.5 to 1.0 m in the soil. Data returned by MECA will be of value to both the BEDS and planetary/astrobiology communities. Dust poses a threat to human exploration because the martian system does not hydrologically or chemically remove fine particles that are being continuously generated by thermal, aeolian, and colluvial weathering, and by volcanism and impact over billions of years. The dust is extremely fine-grained, in copious quantities, ubiquitous in distribution, continually mobile, and a source of poorly-grounded static charges -- a suite of characteristics posing a particulate and electrical threat to explorers and their equipment. Dust is mobilized on global and regional scales, but probably also unpredictably and violently at local scales by dust devils. The latter might be expected in great abundance owing to near surface atmospheric instability (dust devils were detected by Pathfinder during its brief lifetime). Preliminary laboratory experiments suggest that space-suit materials subjected to windblown dust may acquire a uniform, highly adhesive dust layer that is also highly cohesive laterally owing to electrostatic forces. This layer will obscure visibility through the helmet visor, penetrate joints and fabrics, change the thermal properties of the suit, and possibly affect electronic/electrical suit functions. It is paramount that future missions address the issue of interparticle forces, and in particular, the role played by ionizing radiation in affecting these forces on Mars.

Marshall, J.↗