NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
Portable Multigas Monitors for International Space StationThe Environmental Health System (EHS) on International Space Station (ISS) includes portable instruments to measure various cabin gases that acutely impact crew health. These hand-held devices measure oxygen, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride and hydrogen cyanide. The oxygen and carbon dioxide units also serve to back up key functions of the Major Constituent Analyzers. Wherever possible, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices are employed by EHS to save development and sustaining costs. COTS hardware designed for general terrestrial applications however has limitations such as no pressure compensation, limited life of the active sensor, calibration drift, battery issues, unpredictable vendor support and obsolescence. The EHS fleet (inflight and ground inventory) of instruments is both aging and dwindling in number. With the retirement of the US Space Shuttle, maintenance of on-orbit equipment becomes all the more difficult. A project is underway to search for gas monitoring technology that is highly reliable and stable for years. Tunable Diode Laser Spectroscopy (TDLS) seems to be the front-runner technology, but generally is not yet commercially available in portable form. NASA has fostered the development of TDLS through the Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) program. A number of gases of interest to the aerospace and submarine communities can be addressed by TDLS including the list mentioned above plus hydrogen fluoride, ammonia and water (humidity). There are several different forms of TDLS including photoacoustic and direct absorption spectroscopy using various multipass cell geometries. This paper describes the history of portable gas monitoring on NASA spacecraft and provides a status of the development of TDLS based instruments. Planned TDLS flight experiments on ISS could lead both to operational use on ISS and important roles in future Exploration spacecraft and habitats.
Document ID
20110015963
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Mudgett, Paul D. (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Pilgrim, Jeffrey S. (Vista Photonics, Inc. Santa Fe, NM, United States)
Ruff, Gary A. (NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
October 10, 2011
Subject Category
Spacecraft Instrumentation And Astrionics
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-24740
Meeting Information
Meeting: Submarine Air Monitoring Air Purification Conference (SAMAP 2011)
Location: Taranto
Country: Italy
Start Date: October 10, 2011
End Date: October 14, 2011
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available