Search Results

The Crew Refrigerator/Freezer Racks (RFR) are being developed and built at Astrium Friedrichshafen under ESA contract. The RFR will provide conditioned storage volume for astronaut food during transport in the MPLM and on board the ISS. To support the design of the RFR a thermal model has been established at Astrium in the early project phase using the ESATAN software which is the ESA standard thermal analysis tool. This model has been extended to allow full operational simulation of the RFR during a typical mission scenario. For demonstrating the capabilities of EcosimPro, a state of the art tool to address Environmental Control and Life Support analysis, the same model is built up with EcosimPro. The results are validated by comparing them to those from the ESATAN simulation.

The Columbus Orbital Facility (COLUMBUS) is the main European contribution to the ISS. Its Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) subsystem consists of the Condensing Heat Exchanger and Filter Assembly (CHXFA), the Condensate Water Separator Assembly (CWSA) and the Cabin Temperature Control Unit (CTCU). The paper provides a description of the THC subsystem and its equipment focusing on the humidity removal function which has shown to be the major design challenge. Design solutions have been realised by optimising all equipment of the THC with respect to its system needs. Test results both on equipment and on THC subsystem level are presented demonstrating that the humidity removal performance is adequate to meet the system requirements in the wide operational range of COLUMBUS.

The Mini Pressurized Logistic Module (MPLM) of the International Space Station (ISSA) is foreseen for the transport of service equipment, experiment racks and service racks to the station. For the orbital operational phase it needs an Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) to make it commissionable for the astronauts. Because of its short mission time and the usage as a transport vehicle it has no completely autonomous ECLSS functionality. The Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) is supported by the Space Station via an Inter Module Ventilation Interface (IMV l/F). The MPLM ECLS has the requirement to suck revitalized air through the IMV l/F and mix it up with the recirculated air in order to provide a comfortable atmosphere in the MPLM habitable area. The fulfillment of the hydraulic and thermal requirements is verified by test and analysis. With this paper we provide the hydraulic analysis performed with ECOSIM, an ESA approved software tool.

The Mini Pressurized Logistics Module (MPLM) is being developed as the Italian contribution to the International Space Station (ISS) Programme. To improve the efficiency of European space programmes, the Italian Space Agency (ASI) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have decided to increase the commonality between the MPLM and the Columbus Orbital Facility (COF), the European laboratory contribution to the ISS. As a result ASI will provide to ESA a primary structure of the MPLM to be used as the primary structure for COF; in return ESA will provide to ASI the ECLS subsystem for the MPLM, which is a subset of the COF ECLS subsystem. This paper describes the functions of the MPLM ECLS subsystem, the analytical and developmental activities performed by the ECLS Contractor, Daimler-Benz Aerospace Dornier GmbH, and the development status of the various ECLS equipment.

The current status of III-V semiconductor diode lasers emitting between 1 -5 μm wavelengths to be used as light sources for absorption spectroscopy is reviewed. The emission wavelength of the laser is chosen to coincide with the primary absorption line of a molecule or one of its many overtones. The lasers, with a single longitudinal mode emission, are wavelength tuned over several angstroms by modulating the drive current of the device. This sweeping of the wavelength leads to the nomenclature tunable diode laser or TDL. Single mode distributed feedback (DFB) strained layer InGaAs(P) lasers grown on InP substrates with emission wavelengths from 1.2 to 2.06 μm have been developed at JPL, and several devices will be used for planetary atmospheric studies for the first time.

Loop heat pipes (LHP) combine the classical heat pipe operation principle with a loop configuration, i.e. evaporator and condenser are located at separate places as dictated by thermal and configurational reasons and are connected lines for fluid and vapor transport. Experimental investigations of such LHP revealed certain temperature oscillations under certain conditions. This paper presents the results of analyses of such temperature fluctuations and offers possible explanations for initiation and termination of such behavior. Two types of temperature fluctuations have also been confirmed experimentally by testing different kinds of LHP.