Browsing by Author "Sargusingh, Miriam"
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Item Capillary Structures for Exploration Life Support ISS Experiment Kit(48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018-07-08) Sargusingh, Miriam; Weislogel, Mark; Viestenz, Kyle; Jenson, RyanThis paper describes the Capillary Structures for Exploration Life Support (CSELS) ISS payload being developed to study the use of structures of specific shapes to manage fluid and gas mixtures in microgravity. The payload focuses on evaluating capillary structures relevant to evolve water recycling and carbon dioxide removal technologies, benefiting future efforts to design lightweight, more reliable life support systems for future space missions. The water recovery system being evaluated is the Capillary Brine Residual in Containment (CapiBRIC); specifically, the evaporator element. The payload will include both science and technology demonstration experiments intended to show important aspects of the Capillary Evaporator in microgravity. The effect of pore shape, connectivity, depth, and contact line length on stability and drying performance will be evaluated as a pure science experiment while the technology demonstration will show infill, drying, and fluid stability using a non-toxic ersatz that mimics the characteristics of the ISS wastewater brine that most impact fluid flow and containment. The carbon dioxide removal system evaluated in this experiment is the Capillary Liquid CO2 Sorbent System, designed to remove CO2 from air using a liquid sorbent, and to regenerate the sorbent. The science component of the Capillary Sorbent experiment evaluates distribution of flow to and across open-air channels. The technology demonstration component includes demonstration of flow of a non-toxic sorbent ersatz, and demonstration of flow through proof of concept prototype.Item Challenges of Mars Mission Phase Transitions on Spacecraft Environmental Control and Life Support Systems(48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018-07-08) O'Hara, William; Sargusingh, MiriamDeep space human exploration mission concepts presented at the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Committee meetings NASA exploration concept include a multi-vehicle architecture, including a Deep Space Gateway(DSG) that would stay in a cis-lunar orbit, and a Deep Space Transport (DST) vehicle that would transport crew to exploration destinations, including Mars. The mission timeline calls for these vehicles to undergo alternating uncrewed and crewed periods over the course of the mission. Previous works have assessed the implications of long-term uncrewed periods to the spacecraft Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) design and operation. The interest in this work is in examining the transition between these modes within the framework of the Mars mission timeline for nominal and off-nominal concepts of operation. These transitions must be well planned with a detail sequence of events in order to ensure the systems are placed in states that will adequately support the target mission phase as well as future transitions. We will look at the steps that must be considered and their sequencing to develop an approach that supports and enables a successful human mission to Mars.Item Commonality Assessment of Mars Dust Filter Development Between Atmosphere In-Situ Resource Utilization and Surface Habitat Environmental Control Systems(48th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2018-07-08) O'Hara, William; Sargusingh, Miriam; Agui, Juan; Perry, JayParticulate filtration is a key step in ensuring successful operation of many air flow systems. Spacecraft Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) are no exception. Particulate filters are integral to the cabin ventilation system to provide a suitable cabin environment for the crew. Their strategic placement serves to protect various components within a spacecraft cabin from fouling by particulate matter build-up. However,the ECLSS is not the only system whose operation depends on ingesting particulate-free air. Human operations on the surface of Mars will also depend on particulate filters to protect In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) fuel production systems, as well as pressurized rover and surface habitat ECLS systems. This assessment investigates the possibility of having common dust filtering solutions across these platforms. Particulate filtration technologies currently in development are considered relative to their application to both ECLSS and ISRU purposes. As part of this work a comparison is performed of requirements such as operating environments, loading expectation, reliability and lifetime for each application. Results of this work may help guide future development and down-selection of particulate filtering technology across multiple systems in support of NASA’s mission human mission to Mars, including the NASA’s proposed Deep Space Transport (DST) spacecraft and future surface habitats.Item Contingency operations on the Deep Space Gateway: Approaches, and Considerations to Orbiting Platforms for Deep Space Exploration(2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2020-07-31) Zuniga, David; Sturtz, Rachel; Sargusingh, Miriam; Casper, Stephanie; Tressler, ChadDeep space architectures present several challenges for mission planners that range from orbital trajectories, to logistics resupply. Given the maturity and knowledge gained in the development of space systems up to the present, mission planning for nominal scenarios is almost a given. However, planning for contingencies allows mission designers, and programs to assess stress in system design early. With Deep Space Gateway (DSG) having undergone requirement definition - the environmental control and life support systems (ECLSS) have been drawn into the spotlight via assessment of these contingency scenarios. While pursuing nominal mission design, the Artemis ECLSS team identified several contingency scenarios where limits on system architecture, and cross platform design and integration have been discovered. DSG’s architecture for the 2024 boots on the moon mission (BOTM) utilizes Orion’s ECLSS as a means to implement Gateway’s BOTM functions. After evaluation of the contingency Concept of Operations (ConOps) for this architecture, gaps in functionality for removing trace gases, controlling CO2, and heat exchange were discovered. Additional analysis of contingency scenarios for a fully assembled DSG also reveals stresses in the design, and provides the design architects with more tools for developing a robust design. This paper will focus on the analysis techniques used to reveal gaps in contingencies and discussion on a few key cases that may lead to a change in system design, and benefits acquired from early evaluation of contingency scenarios.Item Design Status of the Capillary Brine Residual in Containment Water Recovery System(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016-07-10) Sargusingh, Miriam; Callahan, MichaelOne of the goals of the AES Life Support System (LSS) Project is to achieve 98% water loop closure for long duration human exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit. To meet this objective, the AES LSS Project is developing technologies to recover water from wastewater brine; highly concentrated waste products generated from a primary water recovery system. The state of the art system used aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has the potential to recover up to 85% water from urine wastewater, leaving a significant amounts of water in the waste brine, the recovery of which is critical technology gap that must be filled in order to enable long duration human exploration. Recovering water from the urine wastewater brine is complicated by the concentration of solids as water is removed from the brine, and the concentration of the corrosive, toxic chemicals used to stabilize the urine which fouls and degrades water processing hardware, and poses a hazard to operators and crew. Brine Residual in Containment (BRIC) is focused on solids management through a process of “in-place” drying - the drying of brines within the container used for final disposal. Application of in-place drying has the potential to improve the safety and reliability of the system by reducing the exposure to crew and hardware to the problematic brine residual. Through a collaboration between the NASA Johnson Space Center and Portland Status University, a novel water recovery system was developed that utilizes containment geometry to support passive capillary flow and static phase separation allowing free surface evaporation to take place in a microgravity environment. A notional design for an ISS demonstration system was developed. This paper describes the testing performed to characterize the performance of the system as well as the status of the system level design.Item Development of a Water Recovery System Resource Tracking Model(45th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2015-07-12) Chambliss, Joe; Stambaugh, Imelda; Sargusingh, Miriam; Shull, Sarah; Moore, MichaelA simulation model has been developed to track water resources in an exploration vehicle using Regenerative Life Support (RLS) systems. The Resource Tracking Model (RTM) integrates the functions of all the vehicle components that significantly affect the processing and recovery of water during simulated missions. The approach used in developing the RTM enables its use as part of a complete vehicle simulation for real-time mission studies. Performance data for the components in the RTM are focused on water processing. The data provided to the model have been based on the most recent information available regarding the technology of the component. This paper will describe the process of defining the RLS system to be modeled, the way the modeling environment was selected, and how the model has been implemented. Results showing how the RLS components exchange water are provided in a test case.Item Evaluation of Brine Processing Technologies for Spacecraft Wastewater(45th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2015-07-12) Shaw, Hali L.; Flynn, Michael; Wisniewski, Richard; Lee, Jeffery; Jones, Harry; Delzeit, Lance; Shull, Sarah; Sargusingh, Miriam; Beeler, David; Howard, Jeanie; Howard, Kevin; Harris, Linden; Parodi, Jurek; Kawashima, BrianBrine drying systems may be used in spaceflight. There are several advantages to using brine processing technologies for long-duration human missions including a reduction in resupply requirements and achieving high water recovery ratios. The objective of this project was to evaluate four technologies for the drying of spacecraft water recycling system brine byproducts. The technologies tested were NASA’s Forward Osmosis Brine Drying (FOBD), Paragon’s Ionomer Water Processor (IWP), NASA’s Brine Evaporation Bag (BEB) System, and UMPQUA’s Ultrasonic Brine Dewatering System (UBDS). The purpose of this work was to evaluate the hardware using feed streams composed of brines similar to those generated on board the International Space Station (ISS) and future exploration missions. The brine formulations used for testing were the ISS Alternate Pretreatment and Solution 2 (Alt Pretreat). The brines were generated using the Wiped-film Rotating-disk (WFRD) evaporator, which is a vapor compression distillation system that is used to simulate the function of the ISS Urine Processor Assembly (UPA). Each system was evaluated based on the results from testing and Equivalent System Mass (ESM) calculations. A Quality Function Deployment (QFD) matrix was also developed as a method to compare the different technologies based on customer and engineering requirements.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 Functional Interface Considerations within an Exploration Life Support System Architecture(46th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2016-07-10) Perry, Jay; Sargusingh, Miriam; Toomarian, NikzadAs notional life support system (LSS) architectures are developed and evaluated, myriad options must be considered pertaining to process technologies, components, and equipment assemblies. Each option must be evaluated relative to its impact on key functional interfaces within the LSS architecture. A leading notional architecture has been developed to guide the path toward realizing future crewed space exploration goals. This architecture is described and its developmental status is summarized. Important interfaces within the architecture are discussed and the role of environmental monitoring within the architecture is described. A preliminary hazard analysis of the architecture is also presented.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 Optimization of the Distiller Calcium Limiter (DCaL) System for Calcium Removal in Spacecraft Wastewater(44th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2014-07-13) Shaw, Hali; Flynn, Michael; Wisniewski, Richard; Delzeit, Lance; Shull, Sarah; Sargusingh, Miriam; Beeler, David; Howard, Jeanie; Howard, Kevin; Kawashima, Brian; Hayden, AnnaThe Distiller Calcium Limiter (DCaL) system removes calcium scale precursors from spacecraft wastewater. Previous research has indicated that the DCaL system successfully removes calcium, preventing the formation of calcium scale on heat transfer surfaces. The objective of this study was to optimize the DCaL system; this includes completing a mass balance, determining the optimum ion exchange membranes (anion and cation), and determining the effectiveness of electrodialysis reversal. Three membrane pairs were tested: Astom Neosepta® AMX/CMX (anion/cation), Astom AHA/CMB, and proprietary research membranes AEM/CEM. Tests were conducted using three individual test stands with different cell stacks that contained the membranes. The feed used for testing consisted of CaCl2 (20 g/L) and NaCl (25 g/L). The results from the testing were used to determine which membrane was the most efficient at removing calcium. A chemical compatibility test was then conducted by completing permselectivity tests, which were used to compare new membranes versus membranes that were previously soaked in brine (a concentrated urine mixture containing chromic acid) for 99 days. SEM images were also taken of the membranes soaked in brine to view any physical changes that may have occurred. The effect of electrodialysis reversal was determined by completing tests using ISS simulated wastewater (US/Russian chromic acid ISS pretreatment) and the DCaL-WFRD system. Three material balance tests were conducted to distinguish the ion transfer rates and water transfer rates. A vacuum test was completed to determine whether the electrodialysis stack could hold vacuum. Based on testing, the results showed that the Astom Neosepta® AMX and CMX membranes provided the highest performance in terms of calcium removal and chemical compatibility. The results also showed that electrodialysis reversal improves calcium removal and prevents fouling of the membranes. The material balance confirmed that the DCaL system removes calcium; however, additional tests are necessary to obtain data with better resolution and to determine the effect of more complex feed mixtures.Item Unit Operation Performance Testing of Cascade Distillation Subsystem(44th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2014-07-13) Loeffelholz, David; Baginski, Ben; Patel, Vipul; MacKnight, Allen; Schull, Sarah; Sargusingh, Miriam; Callahan, MichaelThe Cascade Distillation System (CDS) is a waste water recovery technology being developed under NASA’s Advanced Exploration System (AES) water recovery project. The Cascade Distiller (CD) is the principal component of the CDS. The CDS prototype unit was extensively tested at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) during 2008 and 2009. In 2012 the need for additional CD testing was identified to determine thermodynamic, hydraulic, and distillation performance through experiment at operating conditions of interest. This paper discusses this operational testing performed at Honeywell in 2012 on the prototype Cascade Distiller. The thermodynamic performance demonstrated an average specific energy for recovered water of 92 watt-hr/kg. The limiting process recovery of distilled water was 95% of the feed on a weight basis. The distillation performance was tested using a chemical analysis method that used a water soluble red dye. This new method allows qualitative and quantitative measures of the concentrations of salt in the CD and the distillation efficiency.