Browsing by Author "Meyer, Caitlin E."
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Item Next Generation Life Support Project Status(44th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2014-07-13) Barta, Daniel J.; Chullen, Cinda; Vega, Leticia; Cox, Marlon R.; Aitchison, Lindsay T.; Lange, Kevin E.; Pensinger, Stuart J.; Meyer, Caitlin E.; Flynn, Michael; Richardson, Tra-My Justine; Jackson, W. Andrew; Abney, Morgan B.; Birmele, Michele N.; Lunn, Griffin M.; Wheeler, Raymond M.Next Generation Life Support (NGLS) is one of more than 20 technology development projects sponsored by NASA’s Game Changing Development Program. The NGLS Project develops selected life support technologies needed for humans to live and work productively in space, with focus on technologies for future use in spacecraft cabin and space suit applications. Over the last 3 years, NGLS had five main project elements: Variable Oxygen Regulator (VOR), Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) swing bed, High Performance Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Glove (HPEG), Alternative Water Processor (AWP) and Series-Bosch Carbon Dioxide Reduction. The RCA swing bed, VOR and HPEG tasks are directed at key technology needs for the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) and pressure garment for an Advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU). Focus is on prototyping and integrated testing in cooperation with the Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Advanced EVA Project. The HPEG Element, new this fiscal year, includes the generation of requirements and standards to guide development and evaluation of new glove designs. The AWP and Bosch efforts focus on regenerative technologies to further close spacecraft cabin atmosphere revitalization and water recovery loops and to meet technology maturation milestones defined in NASA’s Space Technology Roadmaps. These activities are aimed at increasing affordability, reliability, and vehicle self-sufficiency while decreasing mass and mission cost, supporting a capability-driven architecture for extending human presence beyond low-Earth orbit, along a human path toward Mars. This paper provides a status of current technology development activities with a brief overview of future plans.Item Rapid Start-up and Loading of an Attached Growth, Simultaneous Nitrification/Denitrification Membrane Aerated Bioreactor(45th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2015-07-12) Meyer, Caitlin E.; Pensinger, Stuart; Pickering, Karen D.; Barta, Daniel; Shull, Sarah A.; Vega, Leticia M.; Christenson, Dylan; Jackson, W. AndrewMembrane aerated bioreactors (MABR) are attached-growth biological systems used for simultaneous nitrification and denitrification to reclaim water from waste. This design is an innovative approach to common terrestrial wastewater treatments for nitrogen and carbon removal and implementing a biologically-based water treatment system for long- duration human exploration is an attractive, low energy alternative to physiochemical processes. Two obstacles to implementing such a system are (1) the “start-up” duration from inoculation to steady-state operations and (2) the amount of surface area needed for the biological activity to occur. The Advanced Water Recovery Systems (AWRS) team at JSC explored these two issues through two tests; a rapid inoculation study and a wastewater loading study. Results from these tests demonstrate that the duration from inoculation to steady state can be reduced to under two weeks, and that despite low ammonium removal rates, the MABRs are oversized.