Presence of Metal Aerosols on the International Space Station
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Abstract
During 2016 and 2018 Passive Aerosol Samplers (PAS) were placed on vents and filters around the United States Orbital Segment (USOS) of the International Space Station (ISS). Once the samples were collected, they were sent back to earth for analysis using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). This analysis provided size, morphology, and elemental compositions of the individual aerosol particles that were collected. Using filter area, vent flow rate, and the concentration of particles on the samples the airborne concentration was calculated and compared to the standards set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). All the atmospheric elemental concentrations on the ISS were below 1% of their corresponding OSHA standards. While this analysis does provide us with the first estimate of aerosol levels on the ISS, there are several assumptions that were made throughout this process and further research will be required to validate these assumptions.
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Wenyan Li, URS Federal Services, US
Luz Calle, NASA, US
Marit Meyer, NASA, US
ICES510: Planetary and Spacecraft Dust Properties and Mitigation Technologies
The 51st International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, US, on 10 July 2022 through 14 July 2022.