Search Results

After 11 months of successful operation onboard the ISS US laboratory Destiny, the air quality monitors ANITA (Analyzing Interferometer for Ambient Air) was brought back to Earth on STS126 (ULF2). ANITA is a technology demonstrator flight experiment for continuous air quality monitoring inside the crewed cabin of the ISS with low detection limits and high time resolution. For the first time, the dynamics of the detected trace gas concentrations could be directly resolved by ANITA and correlated to gas events in the cabin. The system is the result of a long term ESA technology development programme initiated more than seventeen years ago. The ANITA mission was a cooperative project between ESA and NASA. ESA's responsibilities were the provision of the H/W, the data acquisition and the data evaluation. NASA was responsible for the launch, accommodation and operation onboard ISS, data download and the transportation of ANITA back to the Earth.

After the launch to the International Space Station with The Space Shuttle flight STS 118 13A.1 on August 9th 2007 and the accommodation in the US lab Destiny, the air quality monitor ANITA (Analyzing Interferometer for Ambient Air) has been successfully put into operation. ANITA is a technology demonstrator flight experiment being able to continuously monitor with high time resolution the air conditions within the crewed cabins of the ISS (International Space Station). The system has its origin in a long term ESA (European Space Agency) technology development program. The ANITA mission itself is an ESA-NASA cooperative project. ESA is responsible for the provision of the HW (Hardware), the data acquisition and data evaluation. NASA's responsibilities are launch, accommodation in the US Lab Destiny, operation and data download.

After the launch to the ISS (International Space Station) with The Space Shuttle flight STS 118 13A.1 on August 9th 2007 and the accommodation in the US lab Destiny, the air quality monitor ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) has been successfully put into operation. ANITA is a technology demonstrator flight experiment being able to continuously monitor with high time resolution the air conditions within the crewed cabins of the ISS. The system has its origin in a long term ESA technology development programme. The ANITA mission itself is an ESA-NASA cooperative project. ESA is responsible for the provision of the HW, the data acquisition and data evaluation. NASA's responsibilities are launch, accommodation in the US Lab Destiny, operation and data download. The ANITA air analyser is currently calibrated to detect and quantify online and with high time resolution 33 gases simultaneously with down to sub-ppm detection limits.

The flight experiment ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) has been developed within the long term European technology development programme on air monitoring in manned space cabins. Built under ESA responsibilities, ANITA has become an important inter agency cooperative activity on air monitoring with NASA. Within this cooperation, the system has recently been handed over to NASA ISS Medical Project (ISSMP) at Johnson Space Center to prepare the upcoming launch to the International Space Station (ISS) now with STS-118. The ANITA air analyser can detect and quantify online and with high time resolution 30 trace gases simultaneously with sub-ppm detection limits in addition to the always present background gases carbon dioxide and water vapour [6, 12]. This air quality monitor allows therefore the detection and monitoring of trace gas dynamics of the spacecraft atmosphere, providing continuous air monitoring as well as crew warning capability in case of malfunctions.