Search Results

Astrium investigates Methane Pyrolysis in the perspective of long-duration exploration missions. In particular this process, which recovers Hydrogen from Methane, allows reaching the maximum closure level of the Air Revitalization System ARES, see figure 1. Past studies as presented in ref. /1/ had been reviewed in light of today's technical advancement and a technology trade-off, supported by bread boarding, resulting in the pre selection of the plasma technique to perform the Methane Pyrolysis. In parallel two methods for plasma provision are investigated: Direct Current Plasma, sustained by a discharge arc rotating in a nozzle to supply energy to the flowing through carrier gas. Micro Wave (MW) Plasma, sustained by a MW within a Quartz tube embedded in a MW resonator cuboid Study activities did concentrate on Development testing of pre selected plasma Pyrolysis technology.

European Space Agency's (ESA's) Columbus module was launched on February 7, 2008. This marks the completion of more than 10 years of development. It is a major step forward for Europe in the area of Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) as Columbus contains several major assemblies which have been developed in Europe. These include the Condensing Heat Exchanger, Condensate Water Separator and the Cabin Fans. The paper gives a short overview of the system and its features and it will report the experiences from the initial activation and operations phase.

Astrium investigates Methane Pyrolysis in the perspective of long-duration exploration missions. In particular this process, which recovers Hydrogen from Methane, allows reaching the maximum closure level of the Air Revitalization System ARES. Past studies were reviewed in the light of today's technical advancement and a technology trade-off, supported by bread boarding, is performed. Current activities do concentrate on Critical technology selection and feasibility demonstration including bread boarding and testing, Methane Pyrolysis Assembly (MPA) operational interfaces with ARES Potential applications of MPA for other exploration capabilities, like in-situ resources utilization (Moon and Mars) The paper presents the achievements so far.

The cabin space of the Columbus APM is well ventilated by air entering through multiple air diffusers and exiting via the return grid and hatch. Therefore, the heat transfers by bulk fluid motion and by convection to the walls need to be experimentally and/or numerically investigated and implemented in the thermal mathematical models (TMM) describing the cabin. CFD analysis provided key data on the thermal couplings due to convective heat transfer and bulk fluid motion for the thermal mathematical model, which in turn was used to correlate test data from an environmental control system test and to provide supplemental information on assumptions used in the lumped capacitance model. This paper presents the logic and results of the steady-state CFD analysis, the potential implementation of the results in a thermal mathematical model, and compares these results with test data obtained during a separate Columbus cabin ventilation qualification test.

FAVORITE (Fixed Alkaline Electrolyte Electrolyser Water Vapor Oxygen Reclamation In-flight Technology Demonstration Experiment) is an orbital flight experiment for a fixed alkaline electrolyte (FAE) electrolyser stack dedicated to generate oxygen and hydrogen out of water for life support and other applications. It was originally planned to fly in September 2003 on board the SpaceHab mission STS -118 with the space shuttle COLUMBIA flight ISS-13A.1, but after the tragic accident of COLUMBIA it was adapted to be launched with the unmanned Russian FOTON-M2 in May 2005. FAVORITE was therefore redesigned, manufactured and ground tested in 2004. This paper summarizes the pre-flight ground test results, reports on the lessons-learnt and gives an overview of the intended in-orbit and post-mission test program.

At the 2002 ICES, FAVORITE, the orbital flight experiment for a fixed alkaline electrolyte (FAE) electrolyser stack was presented. The planning at that time was to fly the experiment in September 2003 on board the Space-Hab mission STS-118 with the space shuttle COLUMBIA flight ISS-13A.1. Due to the tragic accident of COLUMBIA on Feb. 1st, 2003, these plans became obsolete and alternative launch opportunities were looked for. They were finally found with the unmanned Russian FOTON-M2, which is built by TsSKB-PROGRESS in Samara, Russia and scheduled for launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome in April 2005. Because of the switch from a manned to an unmanned mission and other operational constraints, FAVORITE had to be redesigned in several parts. This paper summarizes the objectives of the flight experiment and describes the required design changes. It also presents an overview of the actual development status as well as of the work ahead.