Support system could solve oxygen problems at station
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
NASA's $50 million Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is a mass of wires, tubes and metal pipes - and looks like a plumbing school training aid. But to space hardware engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center, looks come second to function.
The refrigerator-size life support machine's function is so important that it has been inserted into the next shuttle flight, and it could solve oxygen problems on the International Space Station, Marshall managers say. The life support system is scheduled to be shipped to Kennedy Space Center today.
The space station's Russian-built oxygen-generating equipment has failed several times over the past two years, and without equipment that can produce more breathable air, the station is limited to two or three crew members.
"When it is up and going," said Bob Bagdigian, Marshall ECLSS program manager, "this unit will provide up to 20 pounds of oxygen a day, or enough for a crew of six people."
The life support system is scheduled for launch in May and should be installed over the next year, Bagdigian said.
Only one flight has been sent to the station in the past three years, and the grounded shuttle fleet has created a supply problem for the station. Station managers deem the life-support hardware as being so critical that the program has been accelerated to get it to the station as quickly as possible, Marshall Director Dave King said.
"That's one of the most important programs we have going here today," King told The Times last year. "It's so important we are working to get it on a shuttle (launch) as soon as possible, and there is a long list of items that need to be sent to the station.
"That should show how critical a piece of hardware this is."
Managed by Marshall, the ECLSS was built by Hamilton Sundstrand Corp. in Connecticut.
"We also built and integrated the power supply system here," said Robin Carrasquillo, Marshall's ECLSS engineering manager. "A majority of the fabrication and design work was done by Hamilton Sundstrand."
The life-support system runs off 3,000 kilowatts - the power that would be used for two household microwave ovens, Carrasquillo said. About 200 Marshall people worked on the project over the past eight years, she said.
The unit is to use water recovered by a yet-to-be completed Marshall-managed water recovery system, which will recycle station wastewater and urine into drinkable water.
The oxygen system works by taking water and using electricity to break down the water molecules, Bagdigian said.
"We take the oxygen part of water and use it and the hydrogen part we vent overboard," he said.
Eventually, NASA engineers want to recycle the hydrogen for a variety of uses, Bagdigian said.
The wastewater recycling portion of the life support equipment should be completed and on its way to the station in 2007. Bagdigian said he hopes the two will be up and running in just over a year.
© 2006 The Huntsville Times
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