Browsing by Author "Christensen, Lance"
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Item Development of the Miniature Total Organic Carbon Analyzer(2024 International Conference on Environmnetal Systems, 2024-07-21) Morrison, Chad; Smith, Melanie; Neidholdt, Evan; Koehler, Zachary; Beechar, Anant; Christensen, Lance; Noell, AaronMonitoring the Total Organic Carbon (TOC) in spacecraft potable water will be of major importance in long-duration human space exploration. In-flight analysis of potable water produced from a regenerative water processor provides immediate feedback on the quality of reclaimed water for crew health as well as water processing system health monitoring. This paper updates the progress in development of the next generation Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) designed for the unique requirements of an exploration-class mission. The current objective is to design, build, certify, deliver, and operate a TOCA technology demonstration on the International Space Station (ISS). The next generation analyzer system technology was previously developed and selected among a feasibility study of other options. The new system provides primary advantages of reduced mass and volume through reduced system complexity and reduced need for consumables; therefore, the flight project is named MiniTOCA. The project has recently completed design of the tech demo instrument and assembled and tested a flight-like engineering development unit. The engineering unit has undergone performance testing and environmental testing which provides confidence for the project to move forward with flight unit production and certification activities. Test results are summarized in this paper. The flight unit is targeted for delivery to ISS in late 2025.Item Miniature TOC Analyzer using Tunable Laser Spectroscopy and Combustion(2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2020-07-31) Winiberg, Frank; Christensen, Lance; Kale, Matthew; Jones, Andrew; Morrison, ChadMeasurement of Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is an important tool on manned spaceflight missions for determining water quality. TOC quantification can be accomplished by oxidizing dissolved organic carbon to carbon dioxide (CO2) and analyzing the CO2 after volatilization. For human spaceflight applications, size, weight, and power need to be minimized while maintaining high sensitivity and accuracy. To this end, a tunable laser spectrometer tuned to measure CO2 was coupled to a miniature combustion reactor and the performance of the system for measuring the TOC was assessed. This combined system can be potentially reduced to 10×10×10 cm while offering the benefit afforded by combustion of converting all organics to CO2.Item Orion LAMS Laser Absorption Spectrometer for Human Spaceflight – Artemis 3 Flight Unit Build and Test Results(2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2023-07-16) Pohly, Jason; Christensen, Lance; Mansour, Kamjou; Roe, David; Vaughan, John; Erb, CodyThe Orion Laser Air Monitor System (LAMS) is a tunable laser spectrometer that will monitor oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor levels in the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MCPV) cabin and in the space suit loop. LAMS, designed to be small, lightweight, and low power, can nonetheless accurately measure a wide dynamic range of analyte concentrations over relatively wide pressure and temperature ranges despite not using gas pumps, flow, or pressure controllers. Additionally, the LAMS hardware and electronics are capable of meeting stringent Crit-1R requirements for human life support. This paper is a follow-up to the 2020 ICES paper which covered flight unit build and testing results for the Artemis 2 mission. This paper covers design updates, flight unit build, and test results of the LAMS units for the Artemis 3 mission.Item Orion LAMS Laser Absorption Spectrometer for Human Spaceflight – Artemis 4 and 5 Design Updates and Flight Builds(2024 International Conference on Environmnetal Systems, 2024-07-21) Pohly, Jason; Roe, David; Erb, Cody; Mansour, Kamjou; Christensen, LanceThe Orion Laser Air Monitor System (LAMS) is a tunable laser spectrometer that will monitor oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor levels in the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MCPV) cabin and in the space suit loop. LAMS, designed to be small, lightweight, and low power, can nonetheless accurately measure a wide dynamic range of analyte concentrations over relatively wide pressure and temperature ranges despite not using gas pumps, flow, or pressure controllers. Additionally, the LAMS hardware and electronics are capable of meeting stringent Crit-1R requirements for human life support. This paper is a follow-up to the 2020 and 2023 ICES papers which covered flight unit build and testing results for Artemis missions 2 and 3. This paper covers design updates, flight unit build, and test results for the Artemis missions 4 and 5.Item Orion LAMS Laser Absorption Spectrometer for Human Spaceflight – Flight Unit Build and Test Results(2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2020-07-31) Pohly, Jason; Christensen, Lance; Skow, Mary; Mansour, KamjouThe Orion Laser Air Monitor System (LAMS) is a tunable laser spectrometer that will monitor oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor levels in the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MCPV) cabin and in the space suit loop. LAMS, designed to be small, lightweight, and low power, can nonetheless accurately measure a wide dynamic range of analyte concentrations over relatively wide pressure and temperature ranges despite not using gas pumps, flow, or pressure controllers. Additionally, the LAMS hardware and electronics are capable of meeting stringent Crit-1R requirements for human life support. This is the first time a tunable laser spectrometer is being used for atmosphere monitoring and feedback control for ECLSS hardware in a manned spaceflight environment.Item Photocatalytic Oxidation Using TiO2 and UV for Total Organic Carbon Analysis of Water(2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2020-07-31) Gonzalez, Marianne; Lopez, Valeria; Kidd, Richard; Homer, Margie; Noell, Aaron; Morrison, Chad; Jewell, April; Firdosy, Samad; Darrach, Murray; Callahan, Mike; Christensen, Lance; Winiberg, FredWater quality monitoring is vital for long-duration human missions. In particular, monitoring potable water Total Organic Carbon (TOC) is an important metric to understand water quality. The International Space Station (ISS) currently has this capability with its Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (TOCA) that performs off-line analysis. Currently an effort is underway to develop a Miniature Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (mini-TOCA), which aims to decrease the mass, volume, and power specifications to enable long-duration human exploration without sacrificing analytical capability. The main steps of TOC analysis are oxidation of the water sample and the detection of carbon dioxide. One novel oxidation method for use in a TOCA instrument is photocatalytic oxidation using a titanium dioxide (TiO¬2) coating combined with UV LEDs emitting at the TiO2 bandgap (365 nm). Several reactor prototype configurations using this method were procured and tested. The considered design parameters included various surface geometries of the fluidic channels, catalyst application methods, and UV duration and intensity. The application of catalytic TiO2 was attempted using a commercial coating, and atomic layer deposition (ALD) on machined steel and 3D printed titanium. Direct formation of the catalytic later was also tried with titanium substrate via heat treating. The extent of oxidation for different reactor configurations and coatings was determined by changes in direct conductivity measurements of water samples containing trace organic compounds. The ALD catalyst coating was most effective for oxidizing sample. The amount of UV output was also varied to understand the time required for full oxidation. Further work is planned to introduce more types of samples, perform lifetime testing, and integrate the reactor with a tunable laser spectrometer.Item Portable Tunable Laser Spectrometer (PTLS) for Human Exploration: Status of Flight Quality Lasers, Underlying Wireless Mesh Network, and Sensor Testing(50th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/12/2021) Christensen, Lance; Mansour, Kamjou; Fonseca, Benedito; Ning, Yuebin; Gupta, James; Gehant, Joseph; Eschbach, Susanna; Abbas, ZahraWe describe advancements toward a portable tunable laser spectrometer (PTLS) wireless mesh network that can be applied for human exploration. These include mid-infrared diode lasers with the requisite reliability and traceability to be used for critical applications, a wireless mesh network of PTLS instruments capable of near real-time monitoring of environmental gases over the spatial domain of a space station, and tests of prototype PTLS systems demonstrating their capability for gas-phase measurements using the new high reliability lasers.Item Portable Tunable Laser Spectrometer (PTLS) for Human Exploration: Update on Lasers and Mesh Networking(2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2023-07-16) Christensen, Lance; Mansour, Kamjou; Hart, Alexander; Fonseca, Benedito; Ning, Yuebin; Wingar, Simon; Ponnampalam, Nakeeran; Tran, Tran; Rae, Rachel; McKinnon, Graham; Gupta, James; Razavipour, Ghasem; Jiang, Weihong; Barrios, PedroWe report on the development of a wireless network of sensors that measure spatial and temporal distributions of carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water vapor in human habitable vehicles for NASA exploration needs. Each sensor is a hand-held, portable tunable laser spectrometer (PTLS). Toward this goal, we report on realization of first-ever, high-reliability mid-infrared tunable diode lasers emitting at 2683 nm for measurement of carbon dioxide and water vapor. These lasers are a critical component of PTLS. We describe the development, verification, and validation of these lasers which demonstrate achievement of requisite reliability and traceability needed for critical applications. We also describe advancement of wireless network system software enabling individual PTLS sensors to be incorporated into a network distributed throughout a human habitation vehicle like ISS for monitoring trace gases oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water vapor.Item Tunable Laser Absorption Spectroscopy for Human Spaceflight(49th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2019-07-07) Matty, Christopher; Christensen, LanceHuman spaceflight consistently has need for measurement of the major constituent gasses in a habitable cabin environment. Traditionally, this measurement has been performed using a mixture of mass spectrometry, electrochemical, and other traditional sensing methods. Tunable Laser Spectroscopy has been used in industry and research applications for some time, but has not been used in primary operational human spaceflight systems aside from a handful of experimental applications. Meanwhile, recent advances in the quality, size, and cost of commercially produced diode lasers has had a significant impact on the range of feasible applications for Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscopy. In 2017, work started on the Orion Laser Air Monitor System, which is designed to be the primary major constituency monitoring system for the Orion Spacecraft. This paper will cover the history leading up to the selection, design, and build of the Orion Laser Air Monitor as a primary major constituent monitor for human spaceflight.