Search Results

In support of the Constellation Program, NASA conducted an analysis of crew clothing and laundry options. Disposable clothing is currently used in human space missions. However, the new mission duration, goals, launch penalties and habitat environments may lead to a different conclusion. Mass and volume for disposable clothing are major penalties in long-duration human missions. Equivalent System Mass (ESM) of crew clothing and hygiene towels was estimated at about 11% of total life support system ESM for a 4-crew, 10-year Lunar Outpost mission. Ways to lessen this penalty include: reduce clothing supply mass through using clothes made of advanced fabrics, reduce daily usage rate by extending wear duration and employing a laundry with reusable clothing. Lunar habitat atmosphere pressure and therefore oxygen volume percentage will be different from Space Station or Shuttle. Thus flammability of clothing must be revisited.

The amount of oxygen consumption for crew extravehicular activity (EVA) in future lunar exploration missions will be significant. Eight technologies to provide high pressure EVA O2 were investigated. They are: high pressure O2 storage, liquid oxygen (LOX) storage followed by vaporization, scavenging LOX from Lander followed by vaporization, LOX delivery followed by sorption compression, water electrolysis followed by compression, stand-alone high pressure water electrolyzer, Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) and Power Elements sharing a high pressure water electrolyzer, and ECLSS and In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) Elements sharing a high pressure electrolyzer. A trade analysis was conducted comparing launch mass and equivalent system mass (ESM) of the eight technologies in open and closed ECLSS architectures. Technologies considered appropriate for the two architectures were selected and suggested for development.