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A two year test program has been initiated to evaluate the effects of extended duration operation on a solid polymer electrolyte Oxygen Generator Assembly (OGA); in particular the cell stack and membrane phase separators. As part of this test program, the OGA was integrated into the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Water Recovery Test (WRT) Stage 10, a six month test, to use reclaimed water directly from the water processor product water storage tanks. This paper will document results encountered and evaluated thus far in the life testing program.

Research into increased capacity solid amine sorbents has found a candidate (SA9T) that will provide enough increase in cyclic carbon dioxide removal capacity to produce a fully redundant Regenerative Carbon Dioxide Removal System (RCRS). This system will eliminate the need for large quantities of backup LiOH, thus gaining critical storage space on board the shuttle orbiter. This new sorbent has shown an ability to package two fully redundant (four) sorbent beds together with their respective valves, fans and plumbing to create two operationally independent systems. The increase in CO2 removal capacity of the new sorbent will allow these two systems to fit within the envelope presently used by the RCRS. This paper reports on the sub-scale amine testing performed in support of the development effort. In addition, this paper will provide a preliminary design schematic of a fully redundant RCRS.

The International Space Station Waste Collector Subsystem Risk Mitigation Experiment (ISS WCS RME) was flown as the primary (Shuttle) WCS on Space Shuttle flight STS-104 (ISS-7A) in July 2001, to validate new design enhancements. In general, the WCS is utilized for collecting, storing, and compacting fecal & associated personal hygiene waste, in a zero gravity environment. In addition, the WCS collects and transfers urine to the Shuttle waste storage tank. All functions are executed while controlling odors and providing crew comfort. The ISS WCS previously flew on three Shuttle flights as the Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) WCS, as it was originally designed to support extended duration Space Shuttle flights up to 30 days in length. Soon after its third flight, the Space Shuttle Program decided to no longer require 30 day extended mission duration capability and provided the EDO WCS to the ISS Program.

This paper summarizes the development of multi-functional intelligent flexible materials for deployable space structures, otherwise known as the InFlex program. The goal of the work was to enhance the capabilities of inflatable structures for exploration activities such as habitats, airlocks, and space suits, with improved materials ultimately to reduce crew burden and lifecycle costs, improve system safety, and reduce system mass and launch volume. Several technical areas were investigated concurrently in an effort to combine functions and create efficient structures. These included self-healing materials, structural health monitoring systems, radiation protective materials, reduced permeability materials, anti-microbial materials, and embedded power generation and storage technologies. Methods of signal transfer were also studied in conjunction with a centralized display and warning system to interact with systems operations personnel.

Life Sciences research on Space Station will utilize rats to study the effects of the microgravity environment on mammalian physiology and to develop countermeasures to those effects for the health and safety of the crew. The animals will produce metabolic water which must be reclaimed to minimize logistics support. The condensate from the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF) flown on Spacelab Life Sciences-2 (SLS-2) in October 1993 was used as an analog to determine the type and quantity of constituents which the Space Station (SS) water reclamation system will have to process. The most significant organics present in the condensate were 2-propanol, glycerol, ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, acetic acid, acetone, total proteins, urea and caprolactam while the most significant inorganic was ammonia. Microbial isolates included Xanthomonas, Sphingobacterium, Pseudomonas, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Chrysosporium.

The NASA Shuttle Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) uses a non-regenerable absorbent to remove CO2 from an astronaut's breathing loop. A savings in launch weight, storage volume and life cycle cost may be achieved by incorporating a regenerable CO2 removal system into the EMU. This paper will discuss regenerable CO2 sorbents and their impact on the life support system of an EMU. The systems evaluated will be judged on their technical maturity, impact to the EMU, and impacts to space station and shuttle operation

The Minus Eighty (Degrees Celsius) Laboratory Freezer for the International Space Station (MELFI) is one of the freezers developed by ESA on behalf of NASA. Peculiar requirements for that facility are the long-term storage at low temperature, the rapid freezing of specimen to the required temperature, the large cold volume (300 l) and the low power consumption. To verify those requirements before the manufacturing of the flight hardware, a dedicated test campaign was performed on a ground model. This paper will start with a system overview, showing the main features of MELFI. The test set-up as well as their results will be presented and discussed, with particular emphasis on the methods used to predict the on-orbit (0-gravity) behaviour, by avoiding the sample internal convection and dewar internal convection during the test execution.