ALBERT

Description: The Regenerative Enclosed Life Support Module Simulator (REMS) was designed to simulate the conditions aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This unique terrestrial, encapsulated environment for humans and their associated organisms allowed investigations into the microbial communities within an enclosed habitat system, primarily with respect to diversity, phylogeny and the possible impact on human health. To assess time- and/or condition-dependent changes in microbial diversity within REMS, a total of 27 air samples were collected during three consecutive months. The microbial burden and diversity were elucidated using culture-dependent and culture-independent molecular methods. The results indicate that during controlled conditions the total microbial burden detected by culture-dependent techniques (below a detectable level to 102 cells m−3of air) and intracellular ATP assay was significantly low (102–103 cells m−3of air), but increased during the uncontrolled post-operation phase (∼104 cells m−3of air). Only Gram-positive and α-proteobacteria grew under tested culture conditions, with a predominant occurrence ofMethylobacterium radiotolerans, andSphingomonas yanoikuyae. Direct DNA extraction and 16S rDNA sequencing methodology revealed a broader diversity of microbes present in the REMS air (51 species). Unlike culture-dependent analysis, both Gram-positive and proteobacteria were equally represented, while members of a few proteobaterial groups dominated (Rhodopseudomonas,Sphingomonas,Acidovorax,Ralstonia,Acinetobacter,Pseudomonas, andPsychrobacter). Although the presence of several opportunistic pathogens warrants further investigation, the results demonstrated that routine maintenance such as controlling the humidity, crew’s daily cleaning, and air filtration were effective in reducing the microbial burden in the REMS.

Description: Synthetic biology is an effort to make genetic engineering more useful by standardizing sections of genetic code. By standardizing genetic components, biological engineering will become much more similar to traditional fields of engineering, in which well-defined components and subsystems are readily available in markets. Specifications of the behavior of those components and subsystems can be used to model a system which incorporates them. Then, the behavior of the novel system can be simulated and optimized. Finally, the components and subsystems can be purchased and assembled to create the optimized system, which most often will exhibit behavior similar to that indicated by the model. The Space Synthetic Biology project began in 2012 as a multi-Center effort. The purpose of this project was to harness Synthetic Biology principals to enable NASA's missions. A central target for application was to Environmental Control & Life Support (ECLS). Engineers from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center's (MSFC's) ECLS Systems Development Branch (ES62) were brought into the project to contribute expertise in operational ECLS systems. Project lead scientists chose to pursue the development of bioelectrochemical technologies to spacecraft life support. Therefore, the ECLS element of the project became essentially an effort to develop a bioelectrochemical ECLS subsystem. Bioelectrochemical systems exploit the ability of many microorganisms to drive their metabolisms by direct or indirect utilization of electrical potential gradients. Whereas many microorganisms are capable of deriving the energy required for the processes of interest (such as carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation) from sunlight, it is believed that subsystems utilizing electrotrophs will exhibit smaller mass, volume, and power requirements than those that derive their energy from sunlight. In the first 2 years of the project, MSFC personnel conducted modeling, simulation, and conceptual design efforts to assist the project in selecting the best approaches to the application of bioelectrochemical technologies to ECLS. Figure 1 shows results of simulation of charge transport in an experimental system. Figure 2 shows one of five conceptual designs for ECLS subsystems based on bioelectrochemical reactors. Also during the first 2 years, some work was undertaken to gather fundamental data (conductivities, overpotentials) relevant to the modeling efforts.

Description: The Logistics Reduction and Repurposing project includes the heat melt compactor (HMC), a device that compacts waste containing plastic into a tile that will minimize volume, and may be used as materials for radiation shielding. During the process, a small purge gas stream is directed through the HMC chamber to transport out gasses and humidity released from the process. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is tasked with developing and delivering a contamination control system to clean the purge gas prior to exhausting it back into the cabin for crew inhalation.

Description: Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) is a project focused on evolving existing and maturing emerging 'closed loop' atmosphere revitalization (AR) life support systems that produce clean, breathable air for crewmembers, and developing a suite of low mass, low power environmental monitors to detect and measure air- and waterborne constituents and contaminants. The objective is to improve reliability and efficiency, reduce mass and volume, and increase recovery of oxygen from carbon dioxide created by human metabolism from 43% to greater than 90%. The technology developments under ARREM are vital to extending human space missions from low-Earth orbit like the International Space Station to destinations deeper into space such as Mars where dependency on Earth for resupply of maintenance items and critical life support elements such as water and oxygen is not possible. The primary goal of the ARREM project is to demonstrate that systems meet the more stringent performance parameters for deep space exploration and are compatible with other systems within closed loop life support through a series of integrated tests performed in an environmental test chamber capable of simulating human metabolic activities and measuring systems outputs.

Description: The Advanced Exploration Systems Program's Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) project is working to further optimize atmosphere revitalization and environmental monitoring system architectures. This paper discusses project management strategies that tap into skill sets across multiple engineering disciplines, projects, field centers, and industry to achieve the project success. It is the project's objective to contribute to system advances that will enable sustained exploration missions beyond Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) and improve affordability by focusing on the primary goals of achieving high reliability, improving efficiency, and reducing dependence on ground-based logistics resupply. Technology demonstrations are achieved by infusing new technologies and concepts with existing developmental hardware and operating in a controlled environment simulating various crewed habitat scenarios. The ARREM project's strengths include access to a vast array of existing developmental hardware that perform all the vital atmosphere revitalization functions, exceptional test facilities to fully evaluate system performance, and a well-coordinated partnering effort among the NASA field centers and industry partners to provide the innovative expertise necessary to succeed.

Description: Operation of the Internal Thermal Control System (ITCS) Cold Plate/Fluid-Stability Test Facility commenced on September 5, 2000. The facility was intended to provide advance indication of potential problems on board the International Space Station (ISS) and was designed: 1) To be materially similar to the flight ITCS. 2) To allow for monitoring during operation. 3) To run continuously for three years. During the first two years of operation the conditions of the coolant and components were remarkably stable. During this same period of time, the conditions of the ISS ITCS significantly diverged from the desired state. Due to this divergence, the test facility has not been providing information useful for predicting the flight ITCS condition. Results of the first two years are compared with flight conditions over the same time period, showing the similarities and divergences. To address the divergences, the test facility was modified incrementally to more closely match the flight conditions, and to gain insight into the reasons for the divergence. Results of these incremental changes are discussed and provide insight into the development of the conditions on orbit.

Description: The Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Program's Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) Project have been developing atmosphere revitalization and environmental monitoring subsystem architectures suitable for enabling sustained crewed exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). Using the International Space Station state-of-the-art (SOA) as the technical basis, the ARREM Project has contributed to technical advances that improve affordability, reliability, and functional efficiency while reducing dependence on a ground-based logistics resupply model. Functional demonstrations have merged new process technologies and concepts with existing ISS developmental hardware and operate them in a controlled environment simulating various crew metabolic loads. The ARREM Project's strengths include access to a full complement of existing developmental hardware that perform all the core atmosphere revitalization functions, unique testing facilities to evaluate subsystem performance, and a coordinated partnering effort among six NASA field centers and industry partners to provide the innovative expertise necessary to succeed. A project overview is provided and the project management strategies that have enabled a multidiscipinary engineering team to work efficiently across project, NASA field center, and industry boundaries to achieve the project's technical goals are discussed. Lessons learned and best practices relating to the project are presented and discussed.

Description: A subsystem architecture derived from the International Space Station's (ISS) Atmosphere Revitalization Subsystem (ARS) has been functionally demonstrated. This ISS-derived architecture features re-arranged unit operations for trace contaminant control and carbon dioxide removal functions, a methane purification component as a precursor to enhance resource recovery over ISS capability, operational modifications to a water electrolysis-based oxygen generation assembly, and an alternative major atmospheric constituent monitoring concept. Results from this functional demonstration are summarized and compared to the performance observed during ground-based testing conducted on an ISS-like subsystem architecture. Considerations for further subsystem architecture and process technology development are discussed.

Description: The Advanced Exploration Systems Program's Atmosphere Resource Recovery and Environmental Monitoring (ARREM) project is working to mature optimum atmosphere revitalization and environmental monitoring system architectures. It is the project's objective to enable exploration beyond Lower Earth Orbit (LEO) and improve affordability by focusing on three primary goals: 1) achieving high reliability, 2) reducing dependence on a ground-based logistics resupply model, and 3) maximizing commonality between atmosphere revitalization subsystem components and those needed to support other exploration elements. The ARREM project's strengths include using existing developmental hardware and testing facilities, when possible, and and a well-coordinated effort among the NASA field centers that contributed to past ARS and EMS technology development projects.

Description: Humans have been exploring space for more than 40 years. For all those years microorganisms have accompanied, first un-manned spacecraft/cargo and later manned vessels. Microorganisms are everywhere on Earth, could easily adapt to new environments and/or can rapidly mutate to survive in very harsh conditions. Their presence in spacecraft and cargo have caused a few inconveniences over the years of humans spaceflight, ranging from crew health, life support systems challenges and material degradation. The sterilization of spacecraft that will host humans in long duration mission would be a costly operation that will not provide a long-term solution to the microbial colonization of the vessels. As soon as a human is exposed to the spacecraft, during the mission, microorganisms will start to populate the new environment. As the hum an presence in space increases in length, the risk from the microbial load, to hardware and crew will also increase. Mitigation of this risk includes several different strategies that will include minimizing the microbial load (in numbers and diversity) and monitoring. This presentation will provide a list of the risk mitigation strategies that should be implemented during ground processing, and during the mission. It will also discuss the areas that should be discussed before an effective in-flight microbial monitoring regimen is implemented. Microbial monitoring technologies will also be presented.