Browsing by Author "Anderson, Molly"
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Item Assessment of the Impacts of ACLS on the ISS Life Support System using Dynamic Simulations in V-HAB(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016-07-10) Pütz, Daniel; Olthoff, Claas; Ewert, Michael; Anderson, MollyThe Advanced Closed Loop System (ACLS) is currently under development by Airbus Defense and Space and is slated for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2017. The addition of new hardware into an already complex system such as the ISS life support system (LSS) always poses operational risks. It is therefore important to understand the impacts ACLS will have on the existing systems to ensure smooth operations for the ISS. This analysis can be done by using dynamic computer simulations and one possible tool for such a simulation is Virtual Habitat (V-HAB). Based on MATLAB ® , V-HAB has been under development at the Institute of Astronautics of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) since 2004 and in the past has been successfully used to simulate the ISS life support systems. The existing V-HAB ISS simulation model treated the interior volume of the space station as one large, ideally-stirred container. This model was improved to allow the calculation of the atmospheric composition inside individual modules of the ISS by splitting it into twelve distinct volumes. The virtual volumes are connected by a simulation of the inter-module ventilation flows. This allows for a combined simulation of the LSS hardware and the atmospheric composition aboard the ISS. A dynamic model of ACLS is added to the ISS Simulation and different operating modes for both ACLS and the existing ISS life support systems are studied to determine the impacts of ACLS on the rest of the system. The results suggest that the US, Russian and ACLS CO2 systems can operate at the same time without impeding each other. Furthermore, based on the results of this analysis, the US and ACLS Sabatier systems can be operated in parallel as well to achieve a very low CO2 concentration in the cabin atmosphere.Item Design, Development, and Testing of a Water Vapor Exchanger for Spacecraft Life Support Systems(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016-07-10) Izenson, Michael; Micka, Danny; Chepko, Ariane; Rule, Kyle; Anderson, MollyThermal and environmental control systems for future exploration spacecraft must meet challenging requirements for efficient operation and conservation of resources. Maximizing the use of regenerative systems and conserving water are critical considerations. This paper describes the design, development, and testing of an innovative water vapor exchanger (WVX) that can minimize the amount water absorbed in and vented from regenerative CO2 removal systems. Key design requirements for the WVX are high air flow capacity (suitable for a crew of six), very high water recovery, and very low pressure losses. We developed fabrication and assembly methods that enable high-efficiency mass transfer in a uniform and stable array of Nafion tubes. We also developed analysis and design methods to compute mass transfer and pressure losses. We built and tested subscale units sized for flow rates of 2 and 5 ft3/min. Durability testing demonstrated a stable core geometry that was sustained over many humid/dry cycles. Pressure losses were very low (< 0.5 in. H2O total) and met requirements at prototypical flow rates. We measured water recovery efficiency across a range of flow rates and humidity levels that simulate the range of possible cabin conditions. We measured water recovery efficiencies in range 80-90%, with the best efficiency at lower flow rates and higher cabin humidity levels. We compared performance of the WVX with similar units built using an unstructured Nafion tube bundle. The WVX achieves higher water recovery efficiency with nearly an order of magnitude lower pressure drop than unstructured tube bundles. These results show that the WVX provides uniform flow through flow channels for both the humid and dry streams and can meet requirements for service on future exploration spacecraft. The WVX technology will be best suited for long-duration exploration vehicles that require regenerative CO2 removal systems while needing to conserve water.Item Evolution of Environmental Control and Life Support System Requirements and Assumptions for Future Exploration Missions(47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2017-07-16) Anderson, Molly; Perry, Jay; Sargusingh, MiriamNASA programs are maturing technologies and system architectures to enabling future exploration missions to Mars and in cislunar space. The future life support system is one of many technical focal areas. As the core life support system technologies and system matures, developers must make assumptions on the requirements relating to the future flight program. Multiple efforts have begun to define these requirements, including team internal assumptions, planning system integration for early demonstrations, and discussions between international partners to identify areas for future collaboration. For many detailed life support system requirements, existing NASA standards and design handbooks define the performance basis; however, a future vehicle may be constrained in ways that lead to tailoring requirements derived from these standards as well as deriving mission-specific requirements. Other requirements are effectively set by interfaces or operations, and may be different for the same technology depending on whether the hardware is a demonstration system on the International Space Station, or a critical component of a future vehicle. This paper highlights key assumptions relating to life support system requirements and discusses driving scenarios, constraints, and other issues.Item Impacts of 'Pick-and-Eat' Plant Growth Systems on the ISS and Gateway(48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018-07-08) Pütz, Daniel; Traub, Constantin; Ewert, Michael; Anderson, MollyExperience with plant growth in micro-gravity is limited and plants have not yet experienced deep space radiation outside of the Earth’s magnetic field. NASA intends to address these knowledge gaps by performing plant research on present and future habitats. Incorporating plants into the physical chemical life support systems of the International Space Station (ISS) or the future Deep Space Gateway (DSG) poses a new challenge for the systems that must be analyzed beforehand. The simulation tool V HAB is used to study the impact and analyze possible feedback loops between the physical chemical systems and 'Pick-and-Eat' plant systems. The studied plant systems range from the size of two current Veggie experiments to a larger version using a complete International Standard Payload Rack for tomatoes and lettuce. The study for the ISS focuses on the effects of plants on the cabin atmosphere and other life support systems, while for the DSG, the main tradeoff is a comparison between an ‘open-loop’ approach using an Orion CAMRAS and a ‘closed loop’ using ISS components. The results consistently show that the main impacts of small-scale cultivation areas are caused by transpiration. Thus, increasing the water loop closure of the DSG is identified as the most important task. The study then analyzes different viable solutions to close the water loop, like adding a CHX to the cabin of the DSG or to a mostly closed plant growth chamber. The results indicate that the optimal solution depends on the size of the plant growth chamber, and a break even point between the two alternatives is estimated.Item Life Support and Environmental Monitoring International System Maturation Team Considerations(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016-07-10) Anderson, Molly; Gatens, Robyn; Ikeda, Toshitami; Ito, Tsuyoshi; Witt, Johannes; Hovland, ScottHuman exploration of the solar system is an ambitious goal. Future missions to Mars or other planets will require the cooperation of many nations. Exploration concepts have been gathered by the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) at a high level, representing overall goals and strategies of each participating agency. The ISECG Global Exploration Roadmap states that international partnerships are part of what drives the mission scenarios. It states “Collaborations will be established at all levels (missions, capabilities, technologies), with various levels of interdependency among the partners.” To make missions with interdependency successful, technologists and system experts need to share information early, before there are concrete plans and binding agreements. This paper provides an overview of possible ways of integrating NASA, ESA, and JAXA work into a roadmap of life support and environmental monitoring capabilities for future exploration missions. Agencies may have immediate plans, long term goals, or new ideas that are not part of official policy. But relationships between plans and capabilities may influence the strategies for the best ways to achieve partner goals. Without commitments and an organized program, requirements for future missions are unclear. Experience from ISS shows that standards and an early understanding of requirements are an important part of international partnerships. Attempting to integrate systems that were not designed together can create many problems. Several areas have been identified as important to discuss and understand: units of measure, cabin CO2 levels, and fluids like high purity oxygen, potable water and residual biocide, and crew urine and urine pretreat. Each of the partners is exploring different kinds of technologies. Depending on the system concepts, it may be important to define specific parameters, or explore possible ranges. Early coordination can create new possibilities for collaboration, and provide input to determine what combinations create the best overall system.Item NASA Centennial Challenges Program: A crowdsourcing tool to advance life support technologies for future NASA missions(49th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2019-07-07) Roman, Monsi; Anderson, Molly; Herblet, Angela; Frangione, Christopher; Bravo, JenniferHistorically, competitions and prizes such as those executed by the NASA Centennial Challenges (CC) Program have created broader avenues through which to spur innovation from unlikely sources. Examples of past successful competitions include the Orteig Prize that in 1920s offered $25,000 for any person who could fly across the Atlantic Ocean, won by Charles Lindberg and the Ansari X Prize that in 2004 awarded to Mojave Aerospace Ventures for their SpaceShipOne $10,000,000 for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. With these historic examples in mind that in 2005, Congress amended the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 to authorize NASA to create challenges through which prizes could be awarded to United States citizens or entities that succeeded in meeting the challenge objectives. The Centennial Challenges (CC) program, currently part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD), open the first challenge competition in 2005. Challenges selected by the CC program are thoroughly deliberated through broad consultations with subject matter experts (SME), both inside and outside the federal government. In the past 13 years, the CC program has initiated more than 19 challenges in a variety of technology areas, including: propulsion, robotics, communications and navigation, human health, science instrumentation, nanotech, materials/structures and aerodynamics. This paper will discuss the status and the accomplishments of the CC program and discuss results of an Ideation Workshop designed to brainstorm and formulate topics for the potential StarHab Centennial Challenge competition focused on targeting life support technology gaps for future long-term exploration missions. The workshop brought together experts from NASA, the private sector, and academia to brainstorm and formulate topic ideas and concepts for a competition. Status of the challenge and information on how to use crowdsourcing tools will also be discussed.Item NASA Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) Technology Development and Maturation for Exploration: 2015 to 2016 Overview(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016-07-10) Schneider, Walter; Gatens, Robyn; Anderson, Molly; Broyan, James; Macatangay, Ariel; Shull, Sarah; Perry, Jay; Toomarian, NikzadOver the last year, NASA has continued to refine the understanding and prioritization of technology gaps that must be closed in order to achieve Evolvable Mars Campaign objectives. These efforts are reflected in updates to the technical area roadmaps released by NASA in 2015 and have guided technology development and maturation tasks that have been sponsored by various programs. This paper provides an overview of the refined Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) strategic planning, as well as a synopsis of key technology and maturation project tasks that occurred in 2015 and early 2016 to support the strategic needs. Plans for the remainder of 2015 and subsequent years will also be described.Item NASA Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) Technology Development and Maturation for Exploration: 2016 to 2017 Overview(47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2017-07-16) Anderson, Molly; Broyan, James; Gatens, Robyn; Macatangay, Ariel; Perry, Jay; Schneider, Walter; Toomarian, NikzadNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)’s life support community has made significant progress in the last year advancing key technologies and capabilities to enable future exploration missions. Technology gap identification and prioritization has remained fairly consistent. The development teams have completed key development milestones to prove or disprove the feasibility of new technology. Decisions were made to narrow technology options and even make the first selections for technologies that will be demonstrated at full scale on the International Space Station (ISS). Detailed planning for integrated system demonstrations on ISS has begun. Also, other activities began to investigate the ECLS system design and integration considerations for development of capabilities for the cislunar proving ground. This paper provides an overview of the refined Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) strategic planning, and overall roadmap updates, as well as a synopsis of key technology and maturation project tasks that occurred in 2016 and early 2017 to support the strategic needs. Plans for the remainder of 2017 and subsequent years are also described.Item NASA Environmental Control and Life Support Technology Development and Maturation for Exploration: 2017 to 2018 Overview(48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018-07-08) Sargusingh, Miriam; Anderson, Molly; Perry, Jay; Gatens, Robyn; Broyan, James; Macatangay, Ariel; Schneider, Walter; Toomarian, NikzadOver the last year, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has made steps towards defining a path for extending human presence beyond low Earth orbit. The environmental control and life support (ECLS) technology gap identification and prioritization has remained fairly consistent throughout the past year during which the ECLS community has continued to refine and execute the plan for advancing key technologies and capabilities that enable future exploration missions. The development teams have completed key milestones, moving toward prototypes for ground and on-orbit demonstration. Detailed planning for integrated system demonstrations on ISS has continued. Studies to refine deep space exploration requirements, design and integration considerations were performed. Of particular concern for the emerging deep space exploration architecture was consideration of long-duration intermittent dormancy. This paper provides an overview of the refined ECLS strategic planning and overall roadmap updates as well as a synopsis of key technology and maturation project tasks that occurred in 2017 and early 2018 to support the strategic needs. Plans for the remainder of 2018 and subsequent years are also described.Item NASA Environmental Control and Life Support Technology Development and Maturation for Exploration: 2018 to 2019 Overview(49th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2019-07-07) Anderson, Molly; Sargusingh, Miriam; Gatens, Robyn; Perry, Jay; Schneider, Walter; Macatangay, Ariel; Toomarian, Nikzad; McKinley, Melissa; Shaw, LauraNASA’s Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) technology development projects have reached important milestones in 2018 and 2019, that represent vital steps toward establishing readiness for the next generation of human space exploration missions. Some of the first technology demonstration systems were delivered for testing and evaluation aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Key reviews have been completed for other systems, and the ISS team is planning for the complex challenges of integrating the multiple technology demonstrations with upgraded ISS systems on orbit. In parallel, planning is beginning for ground testing to be conducted that strategically complements the on-orbit demonstrations. Analyses of reliability and supportability are being considered for their impact on subsystem and system design as well. Outside of the technology development projects, the Gateway program has also defined more detailed plans and schedules, which aid the ECLS community in developing more detailed functional and performance requirements for technolog, and requires the ECLS community to respond with strategies for deploying an early open-loop functional capability that can evolve to provide improved capabilities or greater loop closure. As these plans mature, NASA is also considering where disruptive technologies may provide value, and determining what new gaps or new details may emerge for future missions. This paper provides an overview of the refined ECLS strategic planning and overall roadmap updates as well as a synopsis of key technology and maturation project tasks that occurred in 2018 and early 2019 to support the strategic needs. Plans for the remainder of 2019 and subsequent years are also described.Item Potential Evolution of Crop Production in Space Using Veggie(48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018-07-08) Hanford, Anthony; Anderson, Molly; Ewert, Michael; Stambaugh, ImeldaHistorically, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) proposed large chambers to support crop production for food production in closed or partially closed regenerative life support systems. Such concepts relegate crop production, aside from small facilities deemed “salad machines,” to the indefinite future because they require large commitments of infrastructure to enable and support. Significantly, recent NASA mission architectures propose gradually placing capabilities in desirable locations by combining assets from earlier visits. An approach for producing crops might also build up greater capabilities over time. The analyses here consider combining multiple Vegetable Production Systems (Veggies) like the one on the International Space Station (ISS) to provide an ever greater crop production capability. Initial installations might yield a salad per crewmember every other day, while much more capable facilities might provide complete closure for atmospheric revitalization as well as about sixty percent of the crew’s food on a dry mass basis. New technologies for plant growth systems and volume optimization were considered. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to determine what improvements to the physical and biological component performance would provide the most benefit to the system.Item Water Recovery System Architecture and Operational Concepts to Accommodate Dormancy(47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2017-07-16) Carter, Donald; Anderson, Molly; Tabb, DavidFuture manned missions beyond low Earth orbit will include intermittent periods of extended dormancy. The mission requirement includes the capability for life support systems to support crew activity, followed by a dormant period of up to one year, and subsequently for the life support systems to come back online for additional crewed missions. NASA personnel are evaluating the architecture and operational concepts that will allow the Water Recovery System (WRS) to support such a mission. Dormancy could be a critical issue due to concerns with microbial growth or chemical degradation that might prevent water systems from operating properly when the crewed mission began. As such, it is critical that the water systems be designed to accommodate this dormant period. This paper identifies dormancy issues, concepts for updating the WRS architecture and operational concepts that will enable the WRS to support the dormancy requirement.