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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO)

Introduction: NASA is preparing to land the first woman and first person of color on the Moon within the next decade, and ensuring the success of these missions will depend on our preparation on the ground in multiple ground-based lunar environment analogs. To achieve this, NASA has used full mission class analogs, of which NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) is the longest continuously running example. Discussion: NEEMO is NASA’s long-standing undersea high-fidelity spaceflight mission analog. It focuses on exploration science, EVA techniques and tools, and maturing ISS IVA flight hardware and operations concepts. NEEMO crews are composed of groups of US and International Partner (IP) astronauts, engineers and scientists who live, work and explore in a challenging environment analogous to the environment experienced currently on ISS and what is expected for future deep space exploration destinations. NEEMO missions are conducted at Aquarius Reef Base (ARB), which includes a shore base in Tavernier, FL, and the world's only undersea research station, the Aquarius habitat, which is located 5.4 miles (9 kilometers) off Key Largo in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. ARB is owned and operated by Florida International University (FIU). Aquarius was selected due to its remote and extreme location and its ability to provide the unique isolation and risk factors that spaceflight presents. NEEMO missions allow for evaluations of end-to-end EVA and Science exploration concepts of operations with a crew that is in situ in a true extreme environment. They also allow for evaluations of flight hardware and ops tools that are either pondered or destined for ISS or Gateway in the near future. NEEMO missions feature flight-like interactions between the crew and a Mission Control Center (MCC )and Science Team, which in turn allows evaluation of mission and science operations decision making and communications techniques. One reason NEEMO missions are of such high fidelity is that so many of the participants are experienced human space flight end operators. The majority of crewmembers are trained astronauts, and many of the MCC operators have credentials as current or former certified ISS MCC operators (e.g., CapCom, EVA Officer, etc.). Mission products are generated daily by the ground team and are modeled on ISS products (but modified as needed). A planning team manages the constantly evolving mission timelines in response to the ever-changing constraints and opportunities. During NEEMO missions, suited EVA crewmembers (using diving helmets) have clear voice communications with each other, the habitat, and the MCC and Science Team back on shore. Each EVA crewmember also sends helmet cam video to the habitat and MCC and Science Teams. Appropriate communications latencies are inserted for the destination being simulated as well. NEEMO missions are made possible by a broad collaboration of participants. Astronauts from all of the ISS partner agencies are eligible for crew assignment. Often the crew includes a NASA scientist, doctor or engineer with a particular skill to contribute. Sometimes crewmembers come from external entities–generally institutes or universities. Objectives come from a wide variety of sources as well, from within NASA, IPs, government agencies, academia, commercial companies and research institutes. A typical NEEMO mission is a collaboration between at least 5 NASA centers. To date, 23 NEEMO missions have been conducted since 2001, and NEEMO 24 is planned for 2022. Conclusion: NEEMO is a high-fidelity mission analog conducted in an extreme subsea environment. It features experienced end-operators in human spaceflight, from the astronaut crewmembers to key personnel staffing Mission Control. Acknowledgments: The authors wish to thank FIU and NASA’s HEO SEI/Strategic Analysis and Exploration Integration and Science Directorate organizations for the continued support that makes the NEEMO Project possible.

M L Reagan↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NextSTEP Appendix A Modular ECLSS Effort Lessons Learned

NASA’s Artemis program provides the first steps for earth-independent exploration starting with crewed habitats in cislunar space and progressing toward crewed landings on the lunar surface that will prepare systems and crews for the exploration of Mars. The Next Space Technology for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) is a public-private partnership model that facilitates commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities in support of more extensive human spaceflight missions in and beyond cislunar space. NASA issued the original NextSTEP Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to U.S. industry in late 2014 and issued the second BAA (NextSTEP-2) in April 2016. The first appendix under NextSTEP-2, Appendix A, focused on developing deep space habitation concepts, engineering design and development, and risk reduction efforts leading to a habitation capability in cislunar space. NASA solicited concepts to develop and refine the evolvable, modular architecture, functional allocation options, standards, and common interfaces required to enable interoperability of the aggregate system to provide long duration deep space transit habitation, specifically enhancements and testing of deep space Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS). Collins Aerospace, formerly UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS), was awarded a Phase 1 and subsequent Phase 2 contract to “develop concepts that group ECLS systems into logical modules maximizing the use of common components and the development of unique methods and design concepts that support in-flight maintenance and repair for future exploration systems.” This paper summarizes the work accomplished under this effort, the lessons that can be applied to development of forthcoming habitation elements, and the gaps remaining to achieve a more resilient, maintainable, repairable and adaptable system capable of installation on a wide variety of habitat platforms. A primary accomplishment of this effort is the development and maturation of a modular palletization concept to enable standard rack interfaces, post-launch outfitting, and decoupling of structural supports that withstand launch environments from those needed for lower on-orbit loads in order to reduce installed mass and repurposing of panels within the habitat. In the course of the effort, Collins assessed numerous architecture trades, including the use of condensing and noncondensing heat exchangers, the ability of modular units to accommodate various habitat volumes and thermal loading, and the most appropriate order of and timing of delivery of regenerative ECLSS hardware to orbital habitats. In addition to the modularity of hardware elements, Collins developed software approaches for distributed/modular command, control, and communication systems and innovative Bayesian fault detection and isolation techniques. Finally, the effort explored advanced maintainability and supportability concepts including the definition of maintenance units (MUs) in place of the traditional Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs), increasing parts commonality to reduce the number and type of spare parts, the use of augmented reality to guide crews during maintenance and repair procedures, and how crews would prepare for and recover from long durations of habitat dormancy. Now that the NextSTEP Modular ECLSS effort has come to a close, it’s important to identify the lessons learned and where they can be leveraged to improve NASA’s broader program of ECLSS technology development and demonstration and ultimately how they can increase the performance of future surface and orbital habitats.

NextSTEP↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NextSTEP Appendix A Modular ECLSS Effort Lessons Learned

NASA’s Artemis program provides the first steps for earth-independent exploration starting with crewed habitats in cislunar space and progressing toward crewed landings on the lunar surface that will prepare systems and crews for the exploration of Mars. The Next Space Technology for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) is a public-private partnership model that facilitates commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities in support of more extensive human spaceflight missions in and beyond cislunar space. NASA issued the original NextSTEP Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to U.S. industry in late 2014 and issued the second BAA (NextSTEP-2) in April 2016. The first appendix under NextSTEP-2, Appendix A, focused on developing deep space habitation concepts, engineering design and development, and risk reduction efforts leading to a habitation capability in cislunar space. NASA solicited concepts to develop and refine the evolvable, modular architecture, functional allocation options, standards, and common interfaces required to enable interoperability of the aggregate system to provide long duration deep space transit habitation, specifically enhancements and testing of deep space Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS). Collins Aerospace, formerly UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS), was awarded a Phase 1 and subsequent Phase 2 contract to “develop concepts that group ECLS systems into logical modules maximizing the use of common components and the development of unique methods and design concepts that support in-flight maintenance and repair for future exploration systems.” This paper summarizes the work accomplished under this effort, the lessons that can be applied to development of forthcoming habitation elements, and the gaps remaining to achieve a more resilient, maintainable, repairable and adaptable system capable of installation on a wide variety of habitat platforms. A primary accomplishment of this effort is the development and maturation of a modular palletization concept to enable standard rack interfaces, post-launch outfitting, and decoupling of structural supports that withstand launch environments from those needed for lower on-orbit loads in order to reduce installed mass and repurposing of panels within the habitat. In the course of the effort, Collins assessed numerous architecture trades, including the use of condensing and noncondensing heat exchangers, the ability of modular units to accommodate various habitat volumes and thermal loading, and the most appropriate order of and timing of delivery of regenerative ECLSS hardware to orbital habitats. In addition to the modularity of hardware elements, Collins developed software approaches for distributed/modular command, control, and communication systems and innovative Bayesian fault detection and isolation techniques. Finally, the effort explored advanced maintainability and supportability concepts including the definition of maintenance units (MUs) in place of the traditional Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs), increasing parts commonality to reduce the number and type of spare parts, the use of augmented reality to guide crews during maintenance and repair procedures, and how crews would prepare for and recover from long durations of habitat dormancy. Now that the NextSTEP Modular ECLSS effort has come to a close, it’s important to identify the lessons learned and where they can be leveraged to improve NASA’s broader program of ECLSS technology development and demonstration and ultimately how they can increase the performance of future surface and orbital habitats.

NextSTEP↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Hardware Autonomy for Space Infrastructure

NASA prioritizes autonomous systems development with the expectation that it will continue to drive significant improvements in human and science exploration capability. Crew operations benefit from a spectrum of machine assistance to complete replacement of dangerous or highly repetitive tasks. Many science operations have a teleoperation component, and similarly benefit from a range of autonomy implementations that make long distance applications feasible. As we consider longer duration deep space missions, we also consider higher levels of autonomy in order meet emergent safety, maintenance, and logistics needs. One of the challenges within this scope is installation and maintenance of infrastructure, such as large scale instrumentation and communications equipment, crew habitats, and operational facilities. We describe how a programmable meta-material architecture may shift the paradigm of how we design, build, and operate future space infrastructure and assets. A primary objective of this strategy is to free the design space from launch vehicle constraints and fundamentally shift how a mission is designed and conducted. This integrates advances in materials (mechanical meta-materials), manufacturing (cooperative mobile robotics), and autonomy (multi-agent planning algorithms). Engineering systems that utilize a modular and reconfiguration building block approach, such as digital communication and computation systems, currently lead in terms of size and complexity scalability. NASA is extending the benefits and flexibility of digital systems to hardware systems, to optimize materials life-cycle management and expand our space exploration mission capabilities to meet long duration and deep space infrastructure needs, in accordance with long term NASA goals of "in-space reliance" and "mass-less exploration."

In space assembly↗
NASA NTRS2018

Development of an Inflatable Airlock for a Deep Space Gateway

Inflatable structures technology utilizes high-strength fabric materials and internal pressure to create a stiffened pressure vessel that can replace traditional metallic primary structure in a habitable spacecraft. The flexibility of fabric structures allows them to be compactly stowed for launch and expanded in space, providing significant launch volume savings. The unique construction and design flexibility of these structures can be customized for a variety of uses in space including landing bags, decelerators, long duration in-space and planetary surface habitats, and even airlocks. An airlock is often a required component of a crewed spacecraft to allow for maintenance and human exploration outside of the vehicle. Airlock designs in use today rely on complex hatches and seals connected by metallic walls. Recent developments towards the design of an inflatable airlock structure show feasibility and a significant launch volume savings over a traditional metallic design. This paper will provide a high-level summary of these projects and the current state-of-the-art in inflatable airlock development with additional references and detail about previous and on-going research, providing guidance for the design of a softgoods airlock system. The use of inflatables in space has been in development since the 1960’s for both habitats and airlocks. The first ever EVA was conducted by the USSR in 1965 using an inflatable airlock known as the Volga. This airlock was attached to the Voskhod 2 spacecraft and turned the vehicle into a dual chamber airlock. The airlock was successfully deployed, used and jettisoned after Alexey Leonov’s historic spacewalk. Additional work on human-rated inflatable structures was not continued until the late 1990’s when NASA-JSC led an effort to demonstrate these structures as feasible long-term pressurized elements with the TransHab project. The technology developed and pioneered during this project led to multiple patents and proven feasibility that inflatables could be used for large habitable structures. Following TransHab, Bigelow Aerospace continued the development of inflatable structures with technical support from NASA. This partnership eventually led to the successful flight certification, launch, attachment and deployment of the Bigelow Expandable Activities Module (BEAM) on the ISS in 2016. Inflatable and expandable airlock structures have undergone various detailed feasibility studies and testing for over 15 years, most notably with the Advanced Inflatable Airlock (AIA), Dual-Chamber Hybrid Inflatable Suitlock (DCIS), Minimalistic Advanced Soft Hatch (MASH), and Lightweight External Inflatable Airlock (LEIA). During this time, full-scale articles have been built and pressure-tested, and mock-ups and demonstrators have been constructed and evaluated. During the 2001-2003 timeframe, the AIA concept was matured through requirements development, conceptual design, subscale and full-scale engineering breadboards subjecting various test articles to deployment and pressure testing up to four times operating pressure. These tests proved the feasibility of successful deployment and structural integrity of an inflatable crewlock. Additional testing was performed in the ensuing years, as funding permitted, to further refine additional structural and deployment concepts and to understand the EVA crewmember interfaces, hatches and EVA support equipment interfaces that would be required for a fully functioning airlock. This work resulted in a refinement of the structural requirements and an accounting of the systems needed in an inflatable airlock. In 2014, the MASH project developed an ultra-lightweight airlock concept with a fabric hatch that utilized a unique pressure vessel shape to minimize structural loads around a linear seal. The concept uses an automated zipper-like seal that allows for crew egress/ingress. Most of the development work on the project thus far has focused on the design, analysis and testing of the primary structure and the zipper-like seal system is in the preliminary stages of development with a successful proof-of-concept test. As part of the 2017 LEIA effort, studies were conducted on EVA crewmember interfaces on the inside of an inflatable airlock. These efforts included the design of an internal secondary structure and placement of handholds and foot restraints to enable hatch opening, closing and translation through the airlock. Structural design, analysis and testing was completed on several secondary structure candidates. Crew interface testing was also completed using an inflatable crewlock mockup and the JSC Active Response Gravity Offload System (ARGOS) to simulate the movement of an EVA crewmember through an inflatable crewlock in microgravity. The results of these tests helped demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing an inflatable structure as an airlock and informed the required volume, hatch size, and configuration and location of translation aids for crewmembers in a microgravity crewlock. The ISS Quest airlock uses a dual-chamber design with isolated compartments known as the equipment-lock and the crewlock. The equipment-lock houses the Servicing, Performance and Checkout Equipment (SPCE) items (suit batteries, consumables, etc.) while the crewlock has limited internal hardware and is the nominally depressurized compartment during US EVAs. While inflatable dual chamber airlocks have been studied, the current state of the art emphasizes an inflatable crewlock-type structure attached to a rigid equipment-lock type or habitat structure. Since a large portion of the hardware in the equipment-lock are rigid components and connectors that are installed on the ground - and an inflatable structure does not achieve full structural capabilities until pressurized in space - a depressurized fabric structure cannot provide the capabilities of a full equipment-lock. The use of an inflatable as a crewlock, however, provides all the required capabilities for EVA operations in a small launch package that offers significant volume savings over a metallic crewlock. The functions of a traditional equipment lock, including the SPCE, could be provided by a spacecraft’s habitat module or node and not necessarily in a separate equipment lock. An inflatable crewlock would be attached to the vehicle and launched in a packed and compressed state, saving volume under the launch shroud and mass for the overall airlock element compared to a rigid crewlock. Work is currently underway to continue development of an inflatable airlock with a variety of focus areas including the consideration of crew-induced loads and interfaces, the design and development of an internal sub-structure to provide translation aids and restraints, the thermal considerations of a fabric shell depressurized during an EVA, the micrometeorite environment in deep space, and the packaging and deployment of an inflatable airlock.

Deep Space Exploration↗
NASA NTRS2018

Payload Utilization in NASA's Space Launch System

A revitalized National Space Council has directed NASA to return to the moon, with a series of preparatory missions paving the way for eventual human exploration. NASA's new deep space exploration system -- the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion crew spacecraft and revitalized launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center -- will enable NASA and its commercial and international partners to meet these goals for human deep space exploration. SLS will be the most capable launch vehicle for these efforts, with an initial Block 1 capability of at least 26 metric tons (t) to trans-lunar injection (TLI). A more powerful Block 1B, available in crew and cargo configurations, with have the power to loft more than 37 t to TLI; the ultimate Block 2 variant will lift more than 45 t to TLI. For payload utilization, the Block 1 vehicle will carry 13 6U CubeSats as secondary payloads while the Block 1B crew vehicle will provide as much volume as the space shuttle payload bay in a Universal Stage Adapter (USA). Block 1B cargo vehicles will offer 8.4 m fairings in 19.1 m and 27.4 m lengths, with enough volume to accommodate habitat modules and landers. For missions beyond the Earth-moon system, SLS offers greater characteristic energy (C3), enabling faster transit or heavier payloads to the outer planets. The first mission of SLS and Orion, launching no earlier than December 2019, will send Orion into lunar distant retrograde orbit (DRO) on an approximately 25-day shakedown cruise known as Exploration Mission-1 (EM-1), enabling NASA to verify and validate new systems before sending astronauts to deep space on the next exploration mission. The SLS program and its prime contractors have made significant progress toward first launch, with several major components of the vehicle completed and delivered to the Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program at Kennedy Space Center. Major forward work includes integrating tanks, engines and other major sections into the EM-1 core stage at Michoud Assembly Facility and then shipping the entire core stage assembly to Stennis Space Center. There, it will be installed in the refurbished B-2 test stand for a series of integrated stage tests culminating in a green run hotfire test. The Program's Spacecraft Payload Integration and Evolution (SPIE) Office, responsible for the in-space stage, adapters and payload interfaces, has largely completed its effort on the Block 1 vehicle and is supporting manufacture of the first Block 1B vehicle. This paper will provide an overview of the Block 1 vehicle, its expected capabilities, secondary payload accommodations and manufacturing status, including structural testing and the challenges of developing a new launch vehicle. A lookahead to the Block 1B vehicle and the payload utilization opportunities it will provide in the 2020s will also be discussed, including the unique capabilities of the vehicle.

Creech, Stephen D.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Non-Axisymmetric Inflatable Pressure Structure (NAIPS) Concept that Enables Mass Efficient Packageable Pressure Vessels with Sealable Openings

Achieving minimal launch volume and mass are always important for space missions, especially for deep space manned missions where the costs required to transport mass to the destination are high and volume in the payload shroud is limited. Pressure vessels are used for many purposes in space missions including habitats, airlocks, and tank farms for fuel or processed resources. A lucrative approach to minimize launch volume is to construct the pressure vessels from soft goods so that they can be compactly packaged for launch and then inflated en route or at the final destination. In addition, there is the potential to reduce system mass because the packaged pressure vessels are inherently robust to launch loads and do not need to be modified from their in-service configuration to survive the launch environment. A novel concept is presented herein, in which sealable openings or hatches into the pressure vessels can also be fabricated from soft goods. To accomplish this, the structural shape is designed to have large regions where one principal stress is near zero. The pressure vessel is also required to have an elongated geometry for applications such as airlocks.

Doggett, William R.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Arog Dual Purpose Habitat

Vision and Mission Statement Commonality of design between a space transit habitat and Mars surface habitat has the potential to reduce mission cost and risk by reducing crew training and increasing efficiency on arrival. Using the diverse array of talent and expertise available at the University of Michigan, BLiSS will explore the concept of commonality on every level of the design. System Definition We will design a habitation system that will house a human crew on either the Martian surface or a deep space transit. The system will be designed with a high degree of commonality between the two configurations. The team will validate the design through analysis and the construction of full scale mockups.

Nilton De Oliveira Renno↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Multi-Gravity Docking and Utilities Transfer System for a Common Habitat Architecture

The Common Habitat architecture, a study architecture based on a large habitat derived from the SLS Core Stage Liquid Oxygen tank and designed to operate in microgravity, lunar surface, and Mars surface environments, requires a pressurized docking and berthing system that also works in all three domains. Prior flown docking systems have only been designed for microgravity, but a prototype suit port-derived docking system was developed under the Constellation program for the lunar surface. This system employed an active-active mating adapter approach consisting of a simplistic passive docking system on all spacecraft and a pressurized mating adapter with active systems on each end to form the docking connection. Derived from this approach, the Common Habitat architecture will use a multi-gravity active-active mating adapter (MGAAMA) to perform this function on the Moon, Mars, and in microgravity, connecting the various pressurized elements needed for surface base camps or deep space habitation. Design aspects and open trades of the MGAAMA system will be described. In addition to forming a structural connection and enabling the transfer of crew and equipment, the MGAAMA must also transfer utilities in the form of gases, fluids, power, and data. The MGAAMA is also designed with a degree of articulation in order to accommodate significant angular misalignment. Due to the environmental conditions the MGAAMA will experience, dust and thermal protection systems are discussed. Because the MGAAMA involves docking to spacecraft with different docking systems of different sizes, the MGAAMA is a family of docking systems with interfaces compatible with current and legacy spacecraft docking systems.

Docking↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Surface Systems and Interface Standardization

Space exploration on planetary surfaces will require the use of various surface systems which will likely need to interface with one another. These systems must communicate and share data, as well as distribute power and transfer fluids for sustainable surface operations. Such systems can range from landers, surface habitats, mobility systems, cargo, and In-Situ Resource Utilizations (ISRUs). Previous and current programs have developed space interoperability standards that help aid in reducing potential risks of interface integration. One example of this is the International Deep Space Interoperability Standards (IDSIS) which focuses on deep space exploration. A goal of the Artemis program is to develop a sustained human presence on the lunar surface that would be a training ground for future Mars exploration. Therefore, it will be beneficial to identify interface standards between the surface assets which will help mitigate risk and reduce complexity in the harsh environments of space exploration. A key contribution to sustainability is commonality between hardware and software interfaces. Generic interfaces for data, power, and fluids will reduce risk, promote interoperability, and define standard interfaces across surface exploration projects and programs. Standardized interfaces would be advantageous for improving efficiency and reducing overall complexity, which are critical considerations for future space exploration. Furthermore, it will provide cost reductions to the Artemis programs over their life cycle (in Operations & Maintenance (O&M) and Logistics). Unique proprietary interfaces if considered or allowed would not only increase complexity but also add cost to the programs. Of course, understanding what will work and not work effectively in these unique environments such as the lunar surface is important. These unique environments require much needed intelligent design, prototyping, comprehensive testing, and field experience, utilizing consensus on common interface solutions.

Jaime Gomez↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The BioSensor Instrument Beyond LEIA: a Versatile Platform for Lunar Biology

Introduction: The BioSensor is a deep-space-compatible automated microfluidic culturing instrument. While originally designed to measure the effects of deep space radiation on yeast growth for the BioSentinel mission, it has the potential to host a diverse range of life science experiments with single- and/or multi-celled organisms and can be adapted to interface with a diverse range of platforms in both crewed and uncrewed settings. It is therefore a leading candidate for hosting life sciences experimentation associated with a lunar surface habitat. BioSensor design: The function of the BioSensor is to monitor the growth and metabolic activity of samples in batch fluidic culture, without the need for crew involvement. The current configuration houses organisms in 16 wells within 16 microfluidic cards, accommodating a total of 256 samples, replicates, and controls. Each well has an optical system including three LEDs and a photodiode detector to measure absorbance at three wavelengths, enabling measurement of optical density, color change in dyes such as alamarBlue, and bioproduction of pigmented compounds. Organisms are loaded into fluidic wells and air-dried for storage during integration, launch, and transit, then activated by the introduction of culture medium from storage bags via manifolds that fill one card at a time. Temperature is controlled by individual card heaters, and timing of all activities (fluidics fills, optical measurements, temperatures) is directed by an experiment script. The self-contained BioSensor payload is roughly 4U in volume; with electrical/mechanical/thermal interface, e.g. for operation on ISS or a lunar lander, as well as a linear energy-transfer (LET) charged-particle radiation spectrometer, the entire system is closer to 6U. BioSentinel and LEIA: Flown on the ISS and in a deep-space free flyer for BioSentinel, the BioSensor has been modified for use in the LEIA mission, including improvements to reduce the sensitivity to lengthy launch delays. LEIA will monitor yeast growth in the radiation and reduced-gravity environment of the lunar surface no earlier than 2026, on a CLPS lander [4]. Changes include accommodating additional culture media and an additional LED color for a new biological assay (bioproduction of carotenoids-- dietary antioxidants), as well as modifications to the housing to allow late-load biology changeout and improved isolation between fluidics and electronics. Future prospects: Future work with the BioSensor, beyond LEIA, will include expanding the range and diversity of organisms and assays accommodated. Preliminary work has demonstrated the growth of Arabidopsis seedlings in BioSensor fluidic cards, including optical measurements of growth rate over time. Minor modifications could allow measurement of phenotypes related to photosynthetic capacity in both plants and cyanobacteria. The experimental capabilities of the BioSensor could be dramatically increased by introducing the capability for fluorescence measurements, and/or the design of novel biological assays using luminescence. The BioSensor can also be adapted for new platforms and experiment settings; in addition to free-flyer, ISS, and CLPS lander, a preliminary design concept has been developed for crewed deployment directly to the lunar surface. The instrument could be accommodated inside a lunar habitat, where its automated operation would make it an excellent candidate for experiments from fundamental investigations into the response of organisms to lunar surface conditions to applied-science purposes such as screening engineered strains of various organisms for bioproduction capability.

J A Lee↗
NASA NTRS2023

Gateway Integrated Environmental Control and Life Support System Overview and Status

The Gateway will be a lunar orbiting platform that is a critical element in establishing a sustainable, long-term human presence on the lunar surface and beyond to deep space exploration. As part of this mission, the Gateway Environmental Control and Life Support Subsystem (ECLSS), employs its capabilities to: - Support two to four-person crew expeditions for at least 30 days, approximately once every one to three years with extended periods of dormancy, - Provide life support functionality during nominal and contingency scenarios, - Support crew expeditions to the Lunar surface by providing a Habitable volume, from which staging, or preparation can take place for missions to the Lunar surface or to deep space destinations, and - Facilitate a platform to demonstrate the necessary capabilities to expand a sustainable human presence into Deep Space, including the surface of the Moon and Mars. The Gateway consists of an assembly of modules provided by commercial and international partnerships with varied capability that, together, achieve these objectives. The Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO) and International Habitat (I-Hab) modules provide the air revitalization and conditioning capabilities for the Gateway with some ECLSS functionality provided in the other modules to support crew operations. This paper explains the architecture of the Gateway ECLSS and provides the status of its development.

Gateway↗
NASA NTRS2018

Payload Utilization in NASA's Space Launch System

With Space Policy Directive 1, the United States administration has directed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Human Exploration & Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) to return to the Moon with missions and infrastructure designed to support a sustained presence in cislunar space, with robotic and human lunar surface operations. NASA’s new deep space exploration system — the super heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion crew spacecraft and revamped launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) — will enable NASA and its commercial and international partners to meet this goal for human exploration of deep space. SLS is the most capable launch vehicle for these efforts, as well as for sending robotic missions deep into the solar system, or even to interstellar space. The vehicle will be available in crew and cargo configurations in progressively more powerful block variants. The initial Block 1 lift capability of at least 26 metric tons (t) to trans-lunar injection (TLI) will be followed by a more powerful Block 1B with the power to loft more than 37 t to TLI. The ultimate Block 2 variant will lift more than 45 t to TLI. For payload accommodation, the Block 1 vehicle can utilize a 5 meter (m) fairing in its cargo configuration with the crew version also able to provide berths for 6U and 12U CubeSats as secondary payloads. The Block 1B crew vehicle will provide as much volume as the space shuttle payload bay in a Universal Stage Adapter (USA) for co-manifested payloads (CPLs). Block 1B cargo vehicles will offer 8.4 m-diameter fairings in 19.1 m and possibly longer lengths, with enough volume to accommodate lunar-orbiting habitat modules and other elements of NASA’s Gateway science outpost. For Mars-class payloads, larger fairings for the Block 2 cargo launcher are under consideration. For missions beyond the Earth-Moon system, SLS offers greater characteristic energy (C3) than any other launch vehicle, enabling shorter transit times or heavier payloads with more robust science packages for missions to the outer solar system. Indeed, the unmatched combination of thrust, payload volume and departure energy that SLS provides opens new opportunities for human and robotic exploration of deep space. This paper will provide an overview of the various vehicle block configurations, their capabilities and payload accommodations for sending primary, co-manifested and secondary payloads to deep space

Creech, Stephen D.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Telerobotics for Human Exploration: Enhancing Crew Capabilities in Deep Space

Future space missions in Earth orbit, to the Moon, and to other distant destinations offer many new opportunities for exploration. But, astronaut time will always be limited and some work will not be feasible or efficient for humans to perform manually. Telerobots, however, can complement human explorers, performing work under remote control from Earth, orbit or nearby habitats. A central challenge, therefore, is to understand how humans and remotely operated robots can be jointly employed to maximize mission performance and success. This presentation provides an overview of the key issues with using telerobots for human exploration.

telerobotics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Influence of Smoke Particle Properties and Cabin Characteristics on Smoke Detection in Lunar Gravity

Spacecraft fires pose a threat to the success of future Lunar, Martian, and deep space exploration missions. As NASA plans to return humans to the Moon in the next decade, novel mission requirements will present new fire safety challenges. For example, materials that are fire resistant on Earth are expected to burn under planned habitat conditions (elevated oxygen concentrations and reduced cabin pressure) and partial gravity (0.16g). Optimal smoke detector placement will depend on a combination of buoyant plume velocities, induced by partial gravity, and Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) parameters, including particle filtration rates, supply and return placement within the cabin, and forced air velocities. These ECLSS parameters must also address the need for rapid Lunar dust removal, as Lunar dust exposure poses a risk to crew health and hardware functionality. Here, we present progress toward a computational fluid dynamics model to evaluate smoke transport in a Lunar habitat. Recent work has demonstrated that if air supplies are placed on ceilings and returns on the floor, a buoyant smoke layer at the ceiling may disperse over the order of minutes even under low forced flow conditions. We expand upon these results to examine the influence of different supply and return configurations on smoke plume development. Additionally, we also address differences in the transport of smoke particles and Lunar dust by varying particle parameters like size, density, and shape factor. Finally, we discuss ongoing and future experimental efforts to measure smoke particle properties and transport under partial gravity, elevated oxygen, and reduced pressure conditions.

Claire Fortenberry↗
NASA NTRS2013

Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock

There is a need for an improvement over current NASA Extravehicular Activity (EVA) technology. The technology must allow the capacity for quicker, more efficient egress/ingress, allow for shirtsleeve suit maintenance, be compact in transport, and be applicable to environments ranging from planetary surface (partial-g) to orbital or deep space zero-g environments. The technology must also be resistant to dust and other foreign contaminants that may be present on or around a planetary surface. The technology should be portable, and be capable of docking with a variety of habitats, ports, stations, vehicles, and other pressurized modules. The Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock (DCIS) consists of three hard inline bulkheads, separating two cylindrical membrane-walled compartments. The Inner Bulkhead can be fitted with a variety of hatch types, docking flanges, and mating hardware, such as the Common Berthing Mechanism (CBM), for the purpose of mating with vehicles, habitats, and other pressurized modules. The Inner Bulkhead and Center Bulkhead function as the end walls of the Inner Compartment, which during operations, would stay pressurized, either matching the pressure of the habitat or acting as a lower-pressure transitional volume. The Inner Compartment contains donning/doffing fixtures and inner suit-port hatches. The Center Bulkhead has two integrated suit-ports along with a maintenance hatch. The Center Bulkhead and Outer Bulkhead function as the end walls of the Outer Compartment, which stays at vacuum during normal operations. This allows the crewmember to quickly don a suit, and egress the suitlock without waiting for the Outer Compartment to depressurize. The Outer Compartment can be pressurized infrequently for both nominal and off-nominal suit maintenance tasks, allowing shirtsleeve inspections and maintenance/repair of the environmental suits. The Outer Bulkhead has a pressure-assisted hatch door that stays open and stowed during EVA operations, but can be closed for environmental protection of the suits, suit maintenance, and pressurization.

Kennedy, Kriss J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space Crop Production

As astronauts venture farther from Earth, and for longer periods, food will become increasingly critical. Crop production can supplement a packaged diet to provide additional nutrients and variety for astronauts. Testing with the Veggie and Advanced Plant Habitat chambers on the International Space Station is allowing us to understand the impacts of gravity and spaceflight on crop growth and nutritional content, and the importance of plants to astronauts living and working away from our home planet. The space environment presents unique challenges to crop production, and technology and knowledge gaps have been identified. Key gaps include how to: • Identify and demonstrate effective options to provide both water and oxygen to the root zone in microgravity • Understand the deep space radiation impacts on seeds and plants • Investigate the relationship between microbiomes and food safety • Store and handle seeds to ensure they are viable, free of contaminants and long-lived • Identify / develop potential crops suitable for the space environment • Understand automation and human factors • Determine scalability for different concepts and architectures Filling these gaps will help enable future human exploration and move us toward Earth-independence.

Veggie↗
NASA NTRS2002

Reliability Methods for Shield Design Process

Providing protection against the hazards of space radiation is a major challenge to the exploration and development of space. The great cost of added radiation shielding is a potential limiting factor in deep space operations. In this enabling technology, we have developed methods for optimized shield design over multi-segmented missions involving multiple work and living areas in the transport and duty phase of space missions. The total shield mass over all pieces of equipment and habitats is optimized subject to career dose and dose rate constraints. An important component of this technology is the estimation of two most commonly identified uncertainties in radiation shield design, the shielding properties of materials used and the understanding of the biological response of the astronaut to the radiation leaking through the materials into the living space. The largest uncertainty, of course, is in the biological response to especially high charge and energy (HZE) ions of the galactic cosmic rays. These uncertainties are blended with the optimization design procedure to formulate reliability-based methods for shield design processes. The details of the methods will be discussed.

Tripathi, R. K.↗