Browsing by Author "Harper, Susana Tapia"
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Item Closing the Water Loop for Exploration: 2022 Status of the Brine Processor Assembly(51st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/10/2022) Boyce, Stephanie; Molina, Sunday; Harrington, Walter; Joyce, Connor; Pasadilla, Patrick; Tewes, Philipp; Williamson, Jill; Perry, Jay; Toon, Katherine; Meyer, Caitlin; Harper, Susana TapiaParagon Space Development Corporation developed a Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) for demonstration on the International Space Station (ISS). BPA recovers water from urine brine produced by the ISS Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) via a patented process and ground testing has demonstrated water recovery rates greater than 90% from the previously concentrated urine brine. BPA utilizes the forced convection of spacecraft cabin air coupled with a membrane distillation process to recover purified water from 22.5 liters of brine within a 26 day cycle. By increasing overall water recovery on ISS to greater than 98%, BPA demonstrates a critical capability needed to close the brine processing technology gap identified in NASA's Water Recovery Technology Roadmap. This paper discusses operational progress since launch to the ISS in February 2021. After installation, checkout, and activation on the ISS, BPA operations were successfully initiated in April 2021. Despite successful nominal operation, crew members expressed discomfort due to malodor from effluent BPA air. After the initial dewatering cycle was completed, it was determined that BPA would need to mitigate odor before on-orbit operations resumed. To address these concerns, an outlet filter system was developed, and an extensive characterization study was conducted to test the efficacy of the filter in reducing odor. This study included analysis of gas, odor, and condensate samples of filtered and unfiltered effluent air during a brine dewatering cycle with an identical BPA ground unit. The filter assembly demonstrated > 85% first pass reduction in odor without detrimental effects to BPA operations. As a result, a similar assembly was launched to the ISS, installed, and BPA operations were resumed in October 2021. This technology achieves an essential capability to enable human exploration of deeper space, and this experiment was an opportunity to identify the importance of human factors in life support spaceflight hardware.Item History of NASA’s Determination of Offgassed Products (Test 7)(49th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2019-07-07) Greene, Benjamin; Buchanan, Vanessa; Harper, Susana TapiaNASA’s Determination of Offgassed Products (Test 7) from materials and assembled articles for spaceflight has evolved since the Apollo program for over 50 years to meet various habitable spacecraft non-metallic programmatic requirements. Now mandated by NASA STD-6016A Standard Materials and Processes Requirements for Spacecraft, all nonmetallic materials used in habitable flight compartments, with the exception of ceramics, metal oxides, inorganic glasses, and materials used in sealed containers must meet the offgassing requirements in NASA-STD-6001B Test 7. This manuscript presents the history of Test 7 beginning with the Apollo spacecraft nonmetallic materials selection guidelines and test requirements in 1967, in which tests were performed in mostly oxygen atmospheres, and progressing through Skylab, Space Shuttle, International Space Station non-metals testing and acceptance requirements with milder test environments, and now imposed on Commercial Crew Transportation, Space Launch System/Project Orion programs, and other NASA-funded programs. This review of the history of Test 7 presents the reader with a perspective on the development and changes undergone since inception to the present. Related NASA standard tests (some now former, discontinued, combined, or supplemental) including Test 6 (Odor Assessment), Test 16 (Determination of Offgassed Products from Assembled Articles), and Test 12 (Total Spacecraft Cabin Offgassing) are discussed in context.