CAMRAS Tests Breathing of Humans Bolted in Small Closet
“We’re moving from paper studies to tests with hardware that will evolve and become part of the spacecraft that will fly back to the moon,” said test volunteer and NASA engineer Evan Thomas at Johnson.
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The purpose of the sweating-and-breathing tests being done by the Houston Johnson Space Center is to measure the amount of moisture and carbon dioxide, absorbed by a new system that is now being developed for future space travelers. Testing of a controlled carbon dioxide and humidity inside of a small crew capsule is being designed to add comfort in an overly crowded situation, making air more breathable and the tight living space much more comfortable.
In order to test the new NASA system for future space vehicles, it was time to leave pen and paper theories and put it to work, testing humans standing hip-to-hip and shoulder-to-shoulder bolted inside an area the size of a small walk-in closet. “Our goal for CAMRAS is to develop a simple, regenerative, lightweight device that will work for both the Orion crew capsule and the Altair lunar lander,” said lead researcher Jeff Sweterlitsch.
The tests being done now are the first human testing of newly theories to support the NASA Orion crew capsule, Altair lunar lander and lunar rovers with human crews being transported for extensive trips. The CAMRAS goal for the new system, known as Carbon-doxide and Moisture Removal Amine Swing-bed, is the Exploration Life Support Project for NASA’s Exploration Technology Development Program.
Two more test phases are being prepared for CAMRAS in the near future. Absorption beds are a focus, with the sweat absorption being regenerated by the “vacuum of space”. The processing of carbon dioxide and moisture requires little energy, using an organic compound called “amine”. This compound absorbs both carbon dioxide and water vapor that is inside the small cabin’s atmosphere, venting the waste products overboard. Regenerated, the vacuum of space sets the amine to reworking.
“The air smelled a little artificial, like on a plane, and it was a little crowded,” said Aaron Hetherington, one of the volunteers and a director for the test. “But the air was fine; the temperature comfortable. My biggest observation is that it was unremarkable, which is good because that means the hardware was working.”
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 12:48 am and is filed under Space Agency News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
