Browsing by Author "Korona, Adam"
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Item Characterizing Fit Factor of a One Size Fits-Most Emergency Mask using Subjects with Smaller Neck Circumferences(2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2023-07-16) Korona, Adam; Ruiz, Alicia; Meyer, Matt; Hahn, Jeff; Wiles, Justine; Rabel, EmilyThe Emergency Mask (EM) is an integral part of fire response on the International Space Station (ISS), Orion, and Gateway. The EM is a hood protection respirator sealing around the subject’s neck, with an additional nosecup covering the subject’s oral/nasal region. When integrated with a pair of air-purifying cartridges, the system can provide safe breathing air in a post-fire environment. Initially, the EM was certified as a one-size-fits-most respirator; however, a recent requirements scrub discovered that the initial requirement set did not include the neck circumferences of the smallest possible crew population. To investigate whether the requirements gap would pose a problem for the current EM design the project performed fit tests on eight subjects with neck circumferences smaller than the initial EM requirement. The test included subjects donning an EM and performing head movements in a tent filled with approximately 50,000 particles/cc of smoke particles. During these motions, particulate measurements are obtained from within the EM and compared with particulate measurements in the surrounding environment. This paper provides descriptions of the test hardware, methodology, and results, which have provided the rationale for designing and building an EM to accommodate subjects with smaller necks.Item Chemical Challenge Tests on ISS Fire Cartridges(2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2023-07-16) Muko, Cristina; Beck, Steven; Wallace, William; Hudson, Edgar; Barrett, Lawrence; Korona, Adam; Williams, Spencer; Gazda, Daniel; Rabel, EmilyFollowing a confirmed combustion event onboard the International Space Station (ISS), crew members will don Emergency Masks, each fitted with 2 ISS fire cartridge filters. As the crew member breathes through the filters, combustion products in the cabin air are either filtered or catalyzed by the fire cartridge media to minimize crew exposure to harmful levels of contaminants. Rigorous certification, acceptance, and surveillance programs for the fire cartridges ensure that each lot meets stringent performance requirements throughout the service life of the cartridges. In accordance with the Quality/Acceptance Test Plan, multiple fire cartridges from each lot undergo chemical challenge tests involving one or more chemicals at specified concentrations. These tests are conducted at specific temperatures, humidity levels, and gas flow rates intended to mimic the worst-case conditions for fire cartridge performance. These challenge tests are conducted by the Environmental Chemistry Laboratory at the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Many of the challenge tests focus on carbon monoxide (CO), but other gases include hydrogen cyanide (HCN), hydrogen chloride (HCl), cyclohexane, acrolein, ammonia (NH3), and acetaldehyde. A fire cartridge is exposed to the test gas in a chamber at the specified conditions, and the outlet is monitored for breakthrough during the 2.5-hour test. This paper will briefly introduce fire cartridges and how they work and will then discuss details of the challenge gas delivery and exposure system, breakthrough monitoring methods, and discussion of issues that have arisen during the course of the test program. Although the focus of this paper will be on the challenge tests, a general summary of the performance of the fire cartridges will also be provided.Item International Space Station as a Testbed for Exploration Environmental Control and Life Support Systems - 2024 Status(2024 International Conference on Environmnetal Systems, 2024-07-21) Ridley, Alesha; Hornyak, David; Gavin, Lynda; Garr, John; Caradec, Paul; Toon, Katherine; Brown, Christopher; Korona, Adam; Williams, AllenHuman exploration missions beyond low earth orbit, such as NASA�s Artemis Program, present significant challenges to spacecraft system design and supportability. A particularly challenging area is the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) that maintains a habitable and life-sustaining environment for crewmembers. NASA is utilizing the experience gained from its current and prior spaceflight programs to mature life support technologies for exploration missions to deep space. The intent is to establish a portfolio of life support system capabilities with proven performance and reliability to enable human exploration missions and reduce risk to success of those missions. As a fully operational human-occupied platform in microgravity, the International Space Station (ISS) presents a unique opportunity to act as a testbed for exploration-class ECLSS, such that these systems may be tested, proven, and refined for eventual deployment on deep space human exploration missions. This paper will provide an updated status on the testbed development including hardware and ISS vehicle integration progress to date as well as future plans for efforts to design, select, build, test and fly Exploration ECLSS on the ISS.Item SERFE Project Overview(51st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/10/2022) Westheimer, David; Campbell, Colin; Contreras-Baker, Alicia; Greene, Benjamin; Korona, Adam; Everett, ShonnNASA has been developing a new spacesuit, called the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) for over a decade. This spacesuit is underdevelopment to support missions to the International Space Station (ISS) and also to the Moon. Improvements in the life and robustness of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) has been a major objective of these efforts. The Suit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) was chosen as the technology to provide cooling to the xEMU and has undergone several iterations of development over this period. An ISS flight experiment centered around the SWME and other thermal loop technologies was developed and has been under test in an ISS EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments to the Space Station (EXPRESS) rack since November of 2020. In addition to the SWME, The SWME EXPRESS Rack Flight Experiment (SERFE) contains several technology demonstrations from the xEMU project and has been demonstrating their performance in micro-gravity and over an extended duration. This paper summarizes the design and operation of the SERFE experiment and provides a basis for subsequent papers to focus on more specific aspects of performance of individual technologies.Item A Study of the Kinetics of the CO Oxidation Catalyst in a Human Spaceflight Fire Cartridges as a Method to Understand and Predict Performance(2023 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2023-07-16) Barrett, Lawrence; Korona, Adam; Rabel, Emily; Muko, Cristina; Beck, Steven; Hudson, EdgarFire Cartridges (FC) are an integral part of fire response on ISS, Orion and Gateway. When a pair of FCs are integrated with an Emergency Mask, they can be used to provide safe breathing air on these vehicles in a post-fire environment. The FCs have two primary mechanisms for removing contaminants from the air, an activated carbon (AC) bed which adsorbs the majority of fire byproducts, and a catalyst bed consisting of gold nanoparticles supported on iron oxide which oxidized CO to CO2 under near ambient conditions. While the FC catalyst has proven its ability to convert CO under relevant conditions, this paper attempts to address the apparent inconsistent performance of the catalyst seen in testing. Numerous variables effect the performance of the catalyst, including but not limited to: reaction environment, reactant gas composition, inert gas composition, catalyst age, and catalyst lot. This paper discusses the importance of these variables and attempts a fundamental mechanistic explanation for the effects of each variable. The fundamental mechanisms are then used to establish the magnitude of expected performance variability, which were validated against real test data of flight quality FCs.Item Utilizing a Suited Manikin Test Apparatus and Space Suit Ventilation Loop to Evaluate Carbon Dioxide Washout(45th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2015-07-12) Chullen, Cinda; Conger, Bruce; Korona, Adam; Kanne, Bryan; McMillin, Summer; Paul, Thomas; Norcross, Jason; Alonso, Jesus Delgado; Swickrath, MikeNASA is pursuing technology development of an Advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit which is an integrated assembly made up of primarily a pressure garment system and a portable life support subsystem (PLSS). The PLSS is further composed of an oxygen loop, a ventilation loop, and a thermal loop. One of the key functions of the ventilation loop is to remove and control the carbon dioxide (CO2) delivered to the crew member. CO2 washout is the mechanism by which CO2 levels are controlled within the space suit helmet to limit the concentration of CO2 inhaled by the crew member. CO2 washout performance is a critical parameter needed to ensure proper and robust designs that are insensitive to human variabilities in a space suit. A suited manikin test apparatus (SMTA) was developed to augment testing of the PLSS ventilation loop to provide a lower cost and more controlled alternative to human testing while providing a one to one match with the suit and manikin geometry used in CO2 washout analytical models. The dynamics of the breathing gas helmet ventilation and astronaut breathing are also captured. The CO2 removal function is performed by the regenerative Rapid Cycle Amine within the PLSS ventilation loop, and its performance is evaluated within the integrated SMTA and Ventilation Test Loop system. This paper will provide a detailed description of the schematics, test configurations, and hardware components of this integrated system. Results and analysis of testing performed with this integrated system will be presented within this paper.