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NASA NTRS2016

Physics of the Cosmos: Program Annual Technology Report

From ancient times, humans have looked up at the night sky and wondered: Are we alone? How did the universe come to be? How does the universe work? PCOS focuses on that last question. Scientists investigating this broad theme use the universe itself as their laboratory, investigating its fundamental laws and properties. They test Einstein's General Theory of Relativity to see if our current understanding of space-time is borne out by observations. They examine the behavior of the most extreme environments - supermassive black holes, active galactic nuclei, and others - and the farthest reaches of the universe, to expand our understanding. With instruments sensitive across the spectrum, from radio, through infrared (IR), visible light, ultraviolet (UV), to X rays and gamma rays, as well as gravitational waves (GWs), they peer across billions of light-years, observing echoes of events that occurred instants after the Big Bang. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) recently recorded the first direct measurement of long-theorized GWs. Another surprising recent discovery is that the universe is expanding at an ever-accelerating rate, the first hint of so-called "dark energy," estimated to account for 75% of mass-energy in the universe. Dark matter, so called because we can only observe its effects on regular matter, accounts for another 20%, leaving only 5% for regular matter and energy. Scientists now also search for special polarization in the cosmic microwave background to support the notion that in the split-second after the Big Bang, the universe inflated faster than the speed of light! The most exciting aspect of this grand enterprise today is that we can finally develop the tools needed for such discoveries.

COR↗

NASA NTRS2017

Lightning NOx Estimates from Space-Based Lightning Imagers

The intense heating of air by a lightning channel, and subsequent rapid cooling, leads to the production of lightning nitrogen oxides (NOx = NO + NO2) as discussed in Chameides [1979]. In turn, the lightning nitrogen oxides (or "LNOx" for brevity) indirectly influences the Earth's climate because the LNOx molecules are important in controlling the concentration of ozone (O3) and hydroxyl radicals (OH) in the atmosphere. Climate is most sensitive to O3 in the upper troposphere, and LNOx is the most important source of NOx in the upper troposphere at tropical and subtropical latitudes; hence, lightning is a useful parameter to monitor for climate assessments. The National Climate Assessment (NCA) program was created in response to the Congressionally-mandated Global Change Research Act (GCRA) of 1990. Thirteen US government organizations participate in the NCA program which examines the effects of global change on the natural environment, human health and welfare, energy production and use, land and water resources, human social systems, transportation, agriculture, and biological diversity. The NCA focuses on natural and human-induced trends in global change, and projects major trends 25 to 100 years out. In support of the NCA, the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) continues to assess lightning-climate inter-relationships. This activity applies a variety of NASA assets to monitor in detail the changes in both the characteristics of ground- and space- based lightning observations as they pertain to changes in climate. In particular, changes in lightning characteristics over the conterminous US (CONUS) continue to be examined by this author using data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission Lightning Imaging Sensor. In this study, preliminary estimates of LNOx trends derived from TRMM/LIS lightning optical energy observations in the 17 yr period 1998-2014 are provided. This represents an important first step in testing the ability to make remote retrievals of LNOx from a satellite-based lightning sensor. As is shown, the methodology can also be directly applied to more recently launched lightning mappers, such as the Geostationary Lightning Mapper, and the International Space Station LIS.

Koshak, William J.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Shadows in the Dark: Low-surface-brightness Galaxies Discovered in the Dark Energy Survey

We present a catalog of 23,790 extended low-surface-brightness galaxies (LSBGs) identified in $\sim 5000\,{\deg }^{2}$ from the first three years of imaging data from the Dark Energy Survey (DES). Based on a single-component Sérsic model fit, we define extended LSBGs as galaxies with g-band effective radii ${R}_{\mathrm{eff}}(g)\gt 2\buildrel{\prime\prime}\over{.} 5$ and mean surface brightness ${\bar{\mu }}_{\mathrm{eff}}(g)\gt 24.2\,\mathrm{mag}\,{\mathrm{arcsec}}^{-2}$. We find that the distribution of LSBGs is strongly bimodal in (g-r) versus (g-i) color space. We divide our sample into red (g- i ≥ 0.60) and blue (g- i < 0.60) galaxies and study the properties of the two populations. Redder LSBGs are more clustered than their blue counterparts and are correlated with the distribution of nearby (z < 0.10) bright galaxies. Red LSBGs constitute ~33% of our LSBG sample, and $\sim 30 \% $ of these are located within 1° of low-redshift galaxy groups and clusters (compared to ~8% of the blue LSBGs). For nine of the most prominent galaxy groups and clusters, we calculate the physical properties of associated LSBGs assuming a redshift derived from the host system. In these systems, we identify 41 objects that can be classified as ultradiffuse galaxies, defined as LSBGs with projected physical effective radii ${R}_{\mathrm{eff}}\gt 1.5\,\mathrm{kpc}$ and central surface brightness ${\mu }_{0}(g)\gt 24.0\,\mathrm{mag}\,{\mathrm{arcsec}}^{-2}$. The wide-area sample of LSBGs in DES can be used to test the role of environment on models of LSBG formation and evolution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

NASA NTRS2002

Countering Solutal Buoyant Convection with High Magnetic Fields

An important component in biotechnology, particularly in the area of protein engineering and rational drug design is the knowledge of the precise three-dimensional molecular structure of proteins. The quality of structural information obtained from X-ray diffraction methods is directly dependent on the degree of perfection of the protein crystals. As a consequence, the growth of high quality macromolecular crystals for diffraction analyses has been the central focus for biochemist, biologists, and bioengineers. Macromolecular crystals are obtained from solutions that contain the crystallizing species in equilibrium with higher aggregates, ions, precipitant, other possible phases of the protein, foreign particles, the walls of the container, and a likely host of other impurities. By changing transport modes in general, i.e., reduction of convection and sedimentation, as is achieved in microgravity, we have been able to dramatically effect the movement and distribution of macromolecules in the fluid, and thus their transport, formation of crystal nuclei, and adsorption to the crystal surface. While a limited number of high quality crystals from space flights have been obtained, as the recent National Research Council (NRC) review of the NASA microgravity crystallization program pointed out, the scientific approach and research in crystallization of proteins has been mainly empirical yielding inconclusive results. We postulate that we can reduce convection in ground-based experiments and we can understand the different aspects of convection control through the use of strong magnetic fields and field gradients. We postulate that limited convection in a magnetic field will provide the environment for the growth of high quality crystals. The approach exploits the variation of fluid magnetic susceptibility with concentration for this purpose and the convective damping is realized by appropriately positioning the crystal growth cell so that the magnetic susceptibility force counteracts terrestrial gravity. The general objective is to test the hypothesis of convective control using a strong magnetic field and magnetic field gradient and to understand the nature of the various forces that come into play. Specifically we aim to delineate causative factors and to quantify them through experiments, analysis and numerical modeling. The paper will report on the current status of the investigation and discuss results from the experimental and modeling efforts.

Ramachandran, N.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Sensor Web in Antarctica: Developing an Intelligent, Autonomous Platform for Locating Biological Flourishes in Cryogenic Environments

The most rigorous tests of the ability to detect extant life will occur where biotic activity is limited by severe environmental conditions. Cryogenic environments are among the most severe-the energy and nutrients needed for biological activity are in short supply while the climate itself is actively destructive to biological mechanisms. In such settings biological activity is often limited to brief flourishes, occurring only when and where conditions are at their most favorable. The closer that typical regional conditions approach conditions that are actively hostile , the more widely distributed biological blooms will be in both time and space. On a spatial dimension of a few meters or a time dimension of a few days, biological activity becomes much more difficult to detect. One way to overcome this difficulty is to establish a Sensor Web that can monitor microclimates over appropriate scales of time and distance, allowing a continuous virtual presence for instant recognition of favorable conditions. A more sophisticated Sensor Web, incorporating metabolic sensors, can effectively meet the challenge to be in "the right place in the right time". This is particularly of value in planetary surface missions, where limited mobility and mission timelines require extremely efficient sample and data acquisition. Sensor Webs can be an effective way to fill the gap between broad scale orbital data collection and fine-scale surface lander science. We are in the process of developing an intelligent, distributed and autonomous Sensor Web that will allow us to monitor microclimate under severe cryogenic conditions, approaching those extant on the surface of Mars. Ultimately this Sensor Web will include the ability to detect and/or establish limits on extant microbiological activity through incorporation of novel metabolic gas sensors. Here we report the results of our first deployment of a Sensor Web prototype in a previously unexplored high altitude East Antarctic Plateau "micro-oasis" at the MacAlpine Hills, Law Glacier, Antarctica.

Delin, K. A.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Inner Radiation Belt Representation of the Energetic Electron Environment: Model and Data Synthesis Using the Salammbo Radiation Belt Transport Code and Los Alamos Geosynchronous and GPS Energetic Particle Data

The highly energetic electron environment in the inner magnetosphere (GEO inward) has received a lot of research attention in resent years, as the dynamics of relativistic electron acceleration and transport are not yet fully understood. These electrons can cause deep dielectric charging in any space hardware in the MEO to GEO region. We use a new and novel approach to obtain a global representation of the inner magnetospheric energetic electron environment, which can reproduce the absolute environment (flux) for any spacecraft orbit in that region to within a factor of 2 for the energy range of 100 KeV to 5 MeV electrons, for any levels of magnetospheric activity. We combine the extensive set of inner magnetospheric energetic electron observations available at Los Alamos with the physics based Salammbo transport code, using the data assimilation technique of "nudging". This in effect input in-situ data into the code and allows the diffusion mechanisms in the code to interpolate the data into regions and times of no data availability. We present here details of the methods used, both in the data assimilation process and in the necessary inter-calibration of the input data used. We will present sample runs of the model/data code and compare the results to test spacecraft data not used in the data assimilation process.

Friedel, R. H. W.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Expanding Hardware-in-the-Loop Formation Navigation and Control with Radio Frequency Crosslink Ranging

The Formation Flying Testbed (FFTB) at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) provides a hardware-in-the-loop test environment for formation navigation and control. The facility continues to evolve as a modular, hybrid, dynamic simulation facility for end-to-end guidance, navigation, and control (GN&C) design and analysis of formation flying spacecraft. The core capabilities of the FFTB, as a platform for testing critical hardware and software algorithms in-the-loop, are reviewed with a focus on recent improvements. With the most recent improvement, in support of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 testing of the Inter-spacecraft Ranging and Alarm System (IRAS) for the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission, the FFTB has significantly expanded its ability to perform realistic simulations that require Radio Frequency (RF) ranging sensors for relative navigation with the Path Emulator for RF Signals (PERFS). The PERFS, currently under development at NASA GSFC, modulates RF signals exchanged between spacecraft. The RF signals are modified to accurately reflect the dynamic environment through which they travel, including the effects of medium, moving platforms, and radiated power.

Mitchell, Jason W.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Time-Dependent Behavior of High-Strength Kevlar and Vectran Webbing

High-strength Kevlar and Vectran webbings are currently being used by both NASA and industry as the primary load-bearing structure in inflatable space habitation modules. The time-dependent behavior of high-strength webbing architectures is a vital area of research that is providing critical material data to guide a more robust design process for this class of structures. This paper details the results of a series of time-dependent tests on 1-inch wide webbing including an initial set of comparative tests between specimens that underwent realtime and accelerated creep at 65 and 70% of their ultimate tensile strength. Variability in the ultimate tensile strength of the webbings is investigated and compared with variability in the creep life response. Additional testing studied the effects of load and displacement rate, specimen length and the time-dependent effects of preconditioning the webbings. The creep test facilities, instrumentation and test procedures are also detailed. The accelerated creep tests display consistently longer times to failure than their real-time counterparts; however, several factors were identified that may contribute to the observed disparity. Test setup and instrumentation, grip type, loading scheme, thermal environment and accelerated test postprocessing along with material variability are among these factors. Their effects are discussed and future work is detailed for the exploration and elimination of some of these factors in order to achieve a higher fidelity comparison.

Jones, Thomas C.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Light Microscopy Module A Facility Overview-History and Science

We will share a brief history and provide a science overview of the many accomplishments of the Light Microscopy Module (LMM), a microscope that has been operating in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS) since 2010. It will be removed in October 2021. It was initially outfitted for the Constrained Vapor Bubble – Wickless Heat Pipe experiment. It was later reconfigured and upgraded many times to support a broad portfolio of Physical science and Biological experiments including: Complex Fluids, Colloids, Macro-Molecular Biophysics, Protein Crystals, and Plant Biology. The LMM has enabled many significant studies and discoveries and has seen its fair share of pleasant surprises. These include recording order arising out of disorder, e.g., systems of colloids that were glasses on Earth crystallizing to form large defect-free crystals, nematic ordering of elliptical colloids, and colloidal-polymer systems crystallizing. The LMM science teams have also seen how to improve product stabilizers once the effects of sedimentation on Earth were removed; they were able to see which tagged genes express in plants when gravity is removed, telling them which genes are essential for growing plants in space; they’ve tested protein crystal growth models; checked models for creating bijel electrodes that turn batteries into fast-charging supercapacitors; tested many forms of colloidal self-assembly: including those using depletion attraction, magnetic fields, and critical Casimir forces; they’ve observed explosive bubble nucleation in a wickless heat pipe, and much more. This work has been supported by the NASA Biological and Physical Sciences (BPS) Division and the ISS Program Office, Johnson Space Center Code OZ and Code OB, the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) / ISS National Lab, EPSCoR, and ISS international partners from ESA – the Netherlands and Italy, CSA, JAXA and S. Korea, and by Space Act Agreements with Procter and Gamble (P&G).

Colloids↗

NASA NTRS1990

Real-time data system: Incorporating new technology in mission critical environments

If the Space Station Freedom is to remain viable over its 30-year life span, it must be able to incorporate new information systems technologies. These technologies are necessary to enhance mission effectiveness and to enable new NASA missions, such as supporting the Lunar-Mars Initiative. Hi-definition television (HDTV), neural nets, model-based reasoning, advanced languages, CPU designs, and computer networking standards are areas which have been forecasted to make major strides in the next 30 years. A major challenge to NASA is to bring these technologies online without compromising mission safety. In past programs, NASA managers have been understandably reluctant to rely on new technologies for mission critical activities until they are proven in noncritical areas. NASA must develop strategies to allow inflight confidence building and migration of technologies into the trusted tool base. NASA has successfully met this challenge and developed a winning strategy in the Space Shuttle Mission Control Center. This facility, which is clearly among NASA's most critical, is based on 1970's mainframe architecture. Changes to the mainframe are very expensive due to the extensive testing required to prove that changes do not have unanticipated impact on critical processes. Systematic improvement efforts in this facility have been delayed due to this 'risk to change.' In the real-time data system (RTDS) we have introduced a network of engineering computer workstations which run in parallel to the mainframe system. These workstations are located next to flight controller operating positions in mission control and, in some cases, the display units are mounted in the traditional mainframe consoles. This system incorporates several major improvements over the mainframe consoles including automated fault detection by real-time expert systems and color graphic animated schematics of subsystems driven by real-time telemetry. The workstations have the capability of recording telemetry data and providing 'instant replay' for flight controllers. RTDS also provides unique graphics animated by real-time telemetry such as workstation emulation of the shuttle's flight instruments and displays of the remote manipulator system (RMS) position. These systems have been used successfully as prime operational tools since STS-26 and have supported seven shuttle missions.

Muratore, John F.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Space radiation transport properties of polyethylene-based composites

Composite materials that can serve as both effective shielding materials against cosmic-ray and energetic solar particles in deep space, as well as structural materials for habitat and spacecraft, remain a critical and mission enabling component in mission planning and exploration. Polyethylene is known to have excellent shielding properties due to its low density, coupled with high hydrogen content. Polyethylene-fiber reinforced composites promise to combine this shielding effectiveness with the required mechanical properties of structural materials. Samples of polyethylene-fiber reinforced epoxy matrix composite 1-5 cm thick were prepared at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and tested against a 500 MeV/nucleon Fe beam at the HIMAC facility of NIRS in Chiba, Japan. This paper presents measured and calculated results for the radiation transport properties of these samples.

Polyethylene/chemistry↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

BioSentinel ISS mission: Analysis of ISS Flight Data and Lessons Learned

As we prepare for a future with a human presence on the Moon, Mars, and beyond, the need for countermeasures to protect astronauts against deep space radiation is ever pressing. However, our understanding of how life operates in the space environment, especially past the protection of the Van Allen radiation belts, is critically limited. BioSentinel, a biological CubeSat, aims to further investigate the effects of deep space ionizing radiation, utilizing the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to examine the cell’s DNA damage response. The yeast wild type and a rad51Δ mutant strain defective for DNA damage repair will be monitored via the redox dye alamarBlue and a 3-color LED detection system. Selected as a secondary payload on Artemis I, BioSentinel will be the first deep space biological experiment in a half-century and the first biological CubeSat or free-flyer to ever reach a heliocentric orbit. Notably, BioSentinel is the only biological CubeSat to include an ISS control study in addition to a ground control. Comparisons between the ground, ISS, and free-flyer experiments will allow us to isolate the effects of deep space radiation from those of microgravity. The ISS study also provides a unique platform to conduct important technological and biological testing of BioSentinel’s instrumentation in preparation for the deep space mission. In this work, we use a series of data processing tools and scripts to analyze ISS flight data as well as samples exposed to simulated space radiation at Brookhaven National Laboratory, specifically looking at cell growth, metabolic activity, and duplication rates based on optical absorbance and alamarBlue kinetics. These analyses provide a crucial set of controls and a framework for analyzing and interpreting future data sets from the free-flyer, helping us gain further insight into the health risks astronauts will face when exposed to deep space radiation.

Kylie Lauren Lo-Wen Akiyama↗

NASA NTRS2014

Gravity and Heater Size Effects on Pool Boiling Heat Transfer

The current work is based on observations of boiling heat transfer over a continuous range of gravity levels between 0g to 1.8g and varying heater sizes with a fluorinert as the test liquid (FC-72/n-perfluorohexane). Variable gravity pool boiling heat transfer measurements over a wide range of gravity levels were made during parabolic flight campaigns as well as onboard the International Space Station. For large heaters and-or higher gravity conditions, buoyancy dominated boiling and heat transfer results were heater size independent. The power law coefficient for gravity in the heat transfer equation was found to be a function of wall temperature under these conditions. Under low gravity conditions and-or for smaller heaters, surface tension forces dominated and heat transfer results were heater size dependent. A pool boiling regime map differentiating buoyancy and surface tension dominated regimes was developed along with a unified framework that allowed for scaling of pool boiling over a wide range of gravity levels and heater sizes. The scaling laws developed in this study are expected to allow performance quantification of phase change based technologies under variable gravity environments eventually leading to their implementation in space based applications.

Boiling↗

NASA NTRS1999

Effects Investigated of Ambient High-Temperature Exposure on Alumina-Titania High-Emittance Surfaces for Solar Dynamic Systems

Solar-dynamic space power systems require durable, high-emittance surfaces on a number of critical components, such as heat receiver interior surfaces and parasitic load radiator (PLR) elements. An alumina-titania coating, which has been evaluated for solar-dynamic heat receiver canister applications, has been chosen for a PLR application (an electrical sink for excess power from the turboalternator/compressor) because of its demonstrated high emittance and high-temperature durability in vacuum. Under high vacuum conditions (+/- 10(exp -6) torr), the alumina-titania coating was found to be durable at temperatures of 1520 F (827 C) for approx. 2700 hours with no degradation in optical properties. This coating has been successfully applied to the 2-kW solar-dynamic ground test demonstrator at the NASA Lewis Research Center, to the 500 thermal-energy-storage containment canisters inside the heat receiver and to the PLR radiator. The solar-dynamic demonstrator has successfully operated for over 800 hours in Lewis large thermal/vacuum space environment facility, demonstrating the feasibility of solar-dynamic power generation for space applications.

deGroh, Kim K.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Test Outline for Flutter Analysis of Rectangular Panels in Rarefied Flow Conditions

Jet plume impingement forces acting on large flexible space structures may precipitate dynamically unstable behavior during space flights. Typical operating conditions in space involve rarefied gas flow regimes which are intrinsically distinct from continuum gas flow and are normally modeled using the kinetic theory of gas flow. Docking and undocking operations of the Space Shuttle with the Russian Mir space laboratory represent a scenario in which the stability boundaries of solar panels may be of interest. Extensive literature review of research work on the dynamic stability of rectangular panels in rarefied gas flow conditions indicated the lack of published reports dealing with this phenomenon. A recently completed preliminary study for NASA JSC dealing with the mathematical analysis of the stability of two-degree-of-freedom elastically supported rigid panels under the effect of rarefied gas flow was reviewed. A test plan outline is prepared for the purpose of conducting a series of experiments on four rectangular rigid test articles in a vacuum chamber under the effect of continuous and pulsating Nitrogen jet plumes. The purpose of the test plan is to gather enough data related to a number of key parameters to allow the validation of the two-degree-of-freedom mathematical model. The hardware required careful design to select a very lightweight material while satisfying rigidity and frequency requirements within the constraints of the test environment. The data to be obtained from the vacuum chamber tests can be compared with the predicted behavior of the theoretical two-degree-of-freedom model. Using the data obtained in this study, further research can identify the limitations of the mathematical model. In addition modifications to the mathematical model can be made, if warranted, to accurately predict the behavior of rigid panels under rarefied gas flow regimes.

Akl, Fred A.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Scale Model Experiments on Sound Propagation From a Mach 2.5 Cold Nitrogen Jet Flowing Through a Rigid-Walled Duct With a J-Deflector

The Launch Systems Testbed (LST) represents the evolution of vibroacoustics research and development work performed at NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) over the last 15 years. The LST is located at the Launch Equipment Test Facility (LETF) in the KSC industrial complex. The LETF is operated by Sierra Lobo, Inc., as a member of University-Affiliated Technology Development Contract (USTDC) to KSC Spaceport and Engineering and Technology Directorate (YA), with ASRC Aerospace Corporation as a the prime contractor. Trajectory Simulation Mechanism (TSM) is a major component of the LST, developed specifically to simulate nonstationary acoustic loads on launch pad structures, vehicles, and payloads. TSM enhances the capabilities within LST for simulating launch environments of future vehicles. The scaled launch environments will be used to predict the full-scale launch environment via an appropriate scaling procedure. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has tasked NASA KSC to perform a basic technology test program in support of developing a low-cost clean pad (incorporating passive mitigation techniques) for future launch vehicles. The overall goal of the program is to develop innovative launch exhaust management systems, which effectively reduce launch acoustic environment with innovative duct designs, while eliminating traditional sound suppression water systems. Passive techniques, such as nontraditional duct geometries, resonators, and diffusers, etc., will be investigated. The overall goals are to advance innovative concepts for a clean pad while developing ideas to reduce transmitted sound via investigation and modeling of jet exhaust acoustic and flow field characteristics. The series of tests outlined in this report represent baseline tests and are geared towards defining the acoustic load environment on the TSM pad for open and closed duct configurations. This report summarizes the cold jet acoustic testing for Mach 2.5 supersonic nitrogen jet issuing from a nozzle with 1-inch exit diameter. Acoustic data, including spectral sound power and Overall Sound Pressure Level (OASPL), are obtained both for a free jet and with the jet flowing through a rigid-walled duct with a J-deflector. The relative performance of closed duct and open duct is evaluated. The results show that the closed duct is superior to the partially open duct, and results in about 3-decibel (dB) noise reduction (near the duct axis) relative to the free jet. The location of the nozzle exit plane (NEP) relative to the duct inlet plane (DIP) has a significant effect on the acoustic field. The results suggest that the location of NEP at 10 inches above the DIP results in reduced acoustic loads relative to 5 inches above the duct inlet and 1 inch into the duct inlet.

Kandula, Max↗

NASA NTRS2009

2009 Continued 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 in a sea-level pressure environment with simulated and real human metabolic loads in both open and closed-loop configurations. The test article design was iterated a third time before the latest series of such tests, which was performed in the first half of 2009. The new design incorporates a canister configuration modification for overall unit compactness and reduced pressure drop, as well as a new process flow control valve that incorporates both compressed gas purge and dual-end vacuum desorption capabilities. This newest test article is very similar to the flight article designs. Baseline tests of the new unit were performed to compare its performance to that of the previous test articles. Testing of compressed gas purge operations helped refine launchpad operating condition recommendations developed in earlier testing. Operating conditions used in flight program computer models were tested to validate the model projections. Specific operating conditions that were recommended by the JSC test team based on past test results were also tested for validation. The effects of vacuum regeneration line pressure on resulting cabin conditions was studied for high metabolic load periods, and a maximum pressure is recommended.

Button, Amy Lin↗

NASA NTRS2010

2009 Continued 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 in a sea-level pressure environment, with simulated and real human metabolic loads, in both open and closed-loop configurations. The test article design was iterated a third time before the latest series of such tests, which was performed in the first half of 2009. The new design incorporates a canister configuration modification for overall unit compactness and reduced pressure drop, as well as a new process flow control valve that incorporates both compressed gas purge and dual-end vacuum desorption capabilities. This newest test article is very similar to the flight article designs. Baseline tests of the new unit were performed to compare its performance to that of the previous test articles. Testing of compressed gas purge operations helped refine launchpad operating condition recommendations developed in earlier testing. Operating conditions used in flight program computer models were tested to validate the model projections. Specific operating conditions that were recommended by the JSC test team based on past test results were also tested for validation. The effects of vacuum regeneration line pressure on resulting cabin conditions was studied for high metabolic load periods, and a maximum pressure is recommended

Button, Amy B.↗