Exhaust Odor Mitigation Approach and Preliminary Testing for the Advanced Animal Habitat-Centrifuge 2004-01-2396

The International Space Station (ISS) is a confined environment. Great care is taken by NASA to preserve this environment and minimize any negative impact on the well-being of the crew. One area of concern is environmental odors, particularly malodors. This concern involves both crew comfort and crew safety, as many environmental emergencies are signaled though the detection of odorous gases. The presence of malodors could mask the detection of such emergencies. A prototype exhaust filter design and materials were evaluated for effectiveness in removing malodors contained in air exhausted from an apparatus containing biological odors associated with rats, their food, and waste – odor sources destined to reside in the ISS. Comparisons were made between filtered and unfiltered air by human subjects asked to evaluate the odor intensity of filtered and unfiltered exhaust air in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the design and filter materials.