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Under a cooperative agreement with NASA, Hamilton Sundstrand has successfully designed, fabricated, tested and delivered three, state-of-the-art, solid amine prototype systems capable of continuous CO2 and humidity removal from a closed, habitable atmosphere. Two prototype systems (CAMRAS #1 and #2) incorporated a linear spool valve design for process flow control through the sorbent beds, with the third system (CAMRAS #3) employing a rotary valve assembly that improves system fluid interfaces and regeneration capabilities. The operational performance of CAMRAS #1 and #2 has been validated in a relevant environment, through both simulated human metabolic loads in a closed chamber and through human subject testing in a closed environment.

Hamilton Sundstrand has developed a scalable evaporative heat rejection system called the Multi-Fluid Evaporator (MFE). It was designed to support the Orion Crew Module and to support future Constellation missions. The MFE would be used from Earth sea level conditions to the vacuum of space. This system combines the functions of the Space Shuttle flash evaporator and ammonia boiler into a single compact package with improved freeze-up protection. The heat exchanger core is designed so that radial flow of the evaporant provides increasing surface area to keep the back pressure low. The multiple layer construction of the core allows for efficient scale up to the desired heat rejection rate. A full-scale unit uses multiple core sections that, combined with a novel control scheme, manage the risk of freezing the heat exchanger cores. A four-core MFE prototype was built in 2007.

Tilting pad bearings are designed by hydrodynamic principles and have been utilized in applications carrying shaft thrust or radial loads in many mechanisms for decades. The object of this paper is to derive the optimized pivoting positions in the radial and circumferential directions of tilting pad thrust and radial bearings and to calculate minimum fuel film thickness for a given running condition of velocity, temperature, viscosity, bearing geometry, and loading forces. The Reynolds equation derived on the tilting pad bearing fluid model is simplified into a one dimensional equation and applied in two dimensions to solve for the minimum fluid film thickness from pressure distribution in the load-carrying analysis.

In a crewed spacecraft environment, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and moisture control are crucial. Hamilton Sundstrand has developed a stable and efficient amine-based CO2 and water vapor sorbent, SA9T, that is well suited for use in a spacecraft environment. The sorbent is efficiently packaged in pressure-swing regenerable beds that are thermally linked to improve removal efficiency and minimize vehicle thermal loads. Flows are all controlled with a single spool valve. This technology has been baselined for the new Orion spacecraft. However, more data was needed on the operational characteristics of the package in a simulated spacecraft environment. A unit was therefore tested with simulated metabolic loads in a closed chamber at Johnson Space Center during the last third of 2006. Tests were run at a variety of cabin temperatures and with a range of operating conditions varying cycle time, vacuum pressure, air flow rate, and crew activity levels.

Under a NASA-sponsored technology development project, a multi-disciplinary team consisting of industry, academia, and government organizations led by Hamilton Sundstrand is developing an amine based humidity and carbon dioxide (CO2) removal process and prototype equipment for Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) applications. This system employs thermally linked amine sorbent beds operating as a pressure swing adsorption system, using the vacuum of space for regeneration. The prototype hardware was designed based on a two fault tolerant requirement, resulting in a single system that could handle the metabolic water and carbon dioxide load for a crew size of six. Two, full scale prototype hardware sets, consisting of a linear spool valve, actuator and amine sorbent canister, have been manufactured, tested, and subsequently delivered to NASA JSC. This paper presents the design configuration and the pre-delivery performance test results for the CAMRAS hardware.

Hamilton Sundstrand is under contract with the NASA Johnson Space Center to develop a scalable, evaporative heat rejection system called the Multi-Fluid Evaporator (MFE). It is being designed to support the Orion Crew Module and to support future Constellation missions. A MFE would be used from Earth sea level conditions to the vacuum of space. The current Space Shuttle configuration utilizes an ammonia boiler and flash evaporator system to achieve cooling at all altitudes. With the MFE system, both functions are combined into a single compact package with significant weight reduction and improved freeze-up protection. The heat exchanger core is designed so that radial flow of the evaporant provides increasing cross-sectional area to keep the back pressure low. Its multiple layer construction allows for efficient scale up to the desired heat rejection rate.

Metabolically produced carbon dioxide (CO2) removal in spacesuit applications has traditionally been accomplished utilizing non-regenerative Lithium Hydroxide (LiOH) canisters. In recent years, regenerative Metal Oxide (MetOx) has been developed to replace the Extravehicular Mobility Unity (EMU) LiOH canister for extravehicular activity (EVA) missions in micro-gravity, however, MetOx may carry a significant weight burden for potential use in future Lunar or planetary EVA exploration missions. Additionally, both of these methods of CO2 removal have a finite capacity sized for the particular mission profile. Metabolically produced water vapor removal in spacesuits has historically been accomplished by a condensing heat exchanger within the ventilation process loop of the suit life support system.

The Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA) is a mass spectrometer-based atmospheric monitoring instrument in the Laboratory Module of the International Space Station (ISS). The MCA is used for continuous environmental monitoring of 6 major gas constituents in the ISS atmosphere as well as safety-critical monitoring for special Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) operations such as Pre-Breathe in the Airlock for Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVAs) and oxygen re-pressurizations. For the latter, it is desirable to make most efficient use of consumables by transferring the maximum amount from O2 re-supply tanks on board the shuttle or Progress. The upper safety limit for O2 transfer is constrained by the MCA measurement error bands. A study was undertaken to tighten these error bands and afford NASA-Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) more operational flexibility.

A High Heat Flux Demonstration Program has been initiated to investigate and demonstrate the performance of a number of candidate cooling technologies to address the need of dissipating the large thermal loads and high heat fluxes associated with Directed Energy Weapons (DEW) systems. The technologies selected for these investigations utilize both single-phase and two-phase cooling concepts. The single-phase devices investigated are based upon the concept of jet impingement with and without extended surface areas. The two-phase devices investigated extend the jet impingement concepts into the liquid-vapor phase change regime, as well as a device based upon vapor injection spray cooling technology. In addition, all devices must demonstrate scalability. For each device a unit cooling cell has been defined and greater surface area capability is to be achieved with the addition of adjacent cells without significantly affecting the performance of neighboring cells.