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Technical History of the Environmental Control System for Project Mercury https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19670029737 2020-03-24T01:19:15+00:00Z NASA TECHNICAL NOTE -NASA L_-TN D-4126 cp. \ LO KI TECHNICAL HISTORY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PROJECT MERCURY by Frank H, Samonski, Jr. Manned Spacecrafi Center Hozcston, Texas NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D. C. OCTOBER 1967 ?" TECH LIBRARY KAFB, "I I llllll lllll1llll lllll Hlll IYH lllll Ill1 Ill 0330793 NASA TN D-4126 TECHNICAL HISTORY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PROJECT MERCURY By Frank H. Samonski, Jr. Manned Spacecraft Center Houston, Texas NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION ~~ For sale by the Clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information Springfield, Virginia 22151 - CFSTl price $3.00 I ABSTRACT This report presents a technical history of the environmental control system for Project Mercury. Significant system changes and flight experience with the environmental control system are described. Attention is also given to the structure of test pro- grams employed to satisfy the mission objectives. ii CONTENTS Section Page SUMMARY .................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................. 1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM DESCRIPTION ............ 2 Pressure-Suit Subsystem .......................... 2 Cabin Subsystem ............................... 5 SYSTEM CHANGES ............................... 7 Oxygen-Supply Filler Valve ......................... 7 Pressure- Switch Deletion .......................... 7 Oxygen Flow Sensor ............................. 8 Cabin Purge Technique ........................... 8 Suit-Circuit Purge Technique ........................ 9 Cabin Pressure Relief Valve ........................ 9 Water Separator ............................... 10 Suit Pressure Regulator ........................... 11 Coolant-Quantity Indicating System ..................... 11 Emergency Oxygen Rate Valve ....................... 12 Carbon Dioxide and Odor Absorber ..................... 13 Outflow Snorkel Valve ............................ 13 Constant- Bleed Orifice ........................... 14 Ground Ventilation Inlet Valve ........................ 14 Oxygen Check Valves ............................ 14 Negative- Pr essure Relief Valve ....................... 15 Comfort Control Valve ............................ 15 iii Section Page Freon Check Valve .............................. 16 High-pressure Oxygen Shutoff Valve ..................... 17 High- Pr es sure Reducer ........................... 17 RELIABILITY TEST PROGRAM ......................... 18 Test Program ................................. 19 Emergency Systems Test ........................... 19 Subsystem and Component Reliability Tests ................. 20 Normal Mission Cycles ............................ 21 Emergency Mission Cycles .......................... 21 QUALIFICATION TESTS PROGRAM ....................... 21 Component and Systems Test ......................... 22 Qualification of 30 Oxygen Tanks ....................... 23 VENDOR MANNED DEVELOPMENT TEST PROGRAM ............. 23 PRIME CONTRACTOR MANNED DEVELOPMENT TEST PROGRAM ..... 24 VENDOR PRESHIPMENT ACCEPTANCE TESTS ................ 25 PRIME CONTRACTOR ACCEPTANCE TESTS ................. 26 SPACECRAFT SYSTEM TESTING ........................ 26 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM TESTING AT CAPE KENNEDY .... 28 OPERATIONAL SUPPORT TESTING BY THE MANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER ........................... 30 FLIGHT EXPERIENCE ............................. 31 Little Joe 5A (Spacecraft 14) ......................... 31 Mercury-Redstone 2 (Spacecraft 5) ..................... 31 Mercury-Redstone 3 (Spacecraft 7) ..................... 31 Mercury-Redstone 4 (Spacecraft 11) ..................... 32 Mercury-Atlas 4 (Spacecraft 8A) ....................... 32 iv Section Page Mercury-Atlas 5 (Spacecraft 9) ........................ 32 Mercury-Atlas 6 (Spacecraft 13) ....................... 32 Mercury-Atlas 7 (Spacecraft 18) ....................... 33 Mercury-Atlas 8 (Spacecraft 16) ....................... 33 Mercury-Atlas 9 (Spacecraft 20) ....................... 34 CONCLUDING REMARKS ............................ 35 APPENDIX A .CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF MA-9 LITHIUM HYDROXIDE CANISTER ........................... 48 APPENDIX B .ANALYSES OF CONTAMINANTS IN SPACECRAFT ATMOSPHERE ................................ 62 APPENDIX C .ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ... 80 REFERENCES .................................. 110 V TABLES Table Page I RELIABILITY-PROGRAMSUMMARY. 37 11 SUMMARY OF MANNED ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM TESTRUNS . 38 A-I RESULTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF MERCURY-ATLAS 9 LITHIUM HYDROXIDE CANISTER (a) Sectional analysis . 55 (b) Composite analysis . 55 B-I RESULTS OF CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF CARBON DIOXIDE ABSORBER . 76 C-I POSTFLIGHT ANALYSIS OF LITHIUM HYDROXIDE CANISTER . 95 vi I' FIGURES Figure Page 1 Schematic diagram of the environmental control system ........ 39 2 Ground ventilation inlet valve. MR-2 configuration .......... 40 3 Ground ventilation inlet valve. modified latching configuration .... 41 4 MA-6 secondary-oxygen-supply high-pressure reducer ........ 42 5 MA-6 secondary-oxygen-supply high-pressure reducer. outer surfaces of seals ......................... 43 6 MA-6 secondary-oxygen-supply high-pressure reducer. inner surfaces of seals ........................ 44 7 Spacecraft bulkhead installation of ECS. right side .......... 45 8 Spacecraft bulkhead installation of ECS. center ............ 46 9 Spacecraft bulkhead installation of ECS. left side ........... 47 A- 1 Lithium hydroxide canisters and sample dividers ........... 56 A-2 Canisters top and bottom showing layers and section numbering ... 57 A-3 Chemical composition in percentages .................. 58 A-4 Areas of maximum carbon dioxide flow as measured by areas of high lithium carbonate content .................. 59 A-5 Carbon dioxide flow pattern. front view of canisters .......... 60 A-6 Carbon dioxide flow pattern. right- and left-side views ........ 61 B-1 Chromatogram of desorbate from Spacecraft 13 ............ 77 B-2 Mass spectrum of unidentified component ............... 78 B-3 Chromatogram of nonaqueous desorbate from Spacecraft 20 charcoal ............................... 79 C-1 Variation of cabin. suit. static. and oxygen partial pressures withtime ............................... 96 C-2 Variation of cabin and suit temperatures with time .......... 97 vii Figure Page c-3 Variation of suit, cabin, and inverter temperatures with time .............................. 98 c-4 Variation of primary and secondary oxygen pressures with time (a) Prelaunch ............................ 99 (b) During flight ........................... 99 c-5 Variation of cabin air, cabin heat-exchanger steam-exhaust temperatures, and associated comfort-control-valve settings with time .......................... 100 C-6 Variation of suit-inlet, suit heat-exchanger steam-exhaust temperatures, and associated comfort-control-valve settings with time .......................... 101 c-7 Variation of 150- and 250-VA inverter temperatures and associated cooling-control-valve settings with time ........ 102 C-8 Variation of cabin air temperature, cabin heat-exchanger dome temperature, and associated comfort-control-valve settings with time (a) Flight elapsed time, 00: 00 to 05: 00 .............. 103 (b) Flight elapsed time, 05: 00 to 10: 00 .............. 104 c-9 Variation of suit-inlet temperature, suit heat-exchanger dome temperature, and associated suit coolant-valve settings with time (a) Flight elapsed time, 00: 00 to 05: BO .............. 105 (b) Flight elapsed time, 05: 00 to 10: 00 .............. 106 c- 10 Comfort-control-valve calibration curve ............... 107 c-11 MA-9 suit-circuit condensate trap .................. 108 c-12 Cabin temperature evaluation ..................... 109 viii TECHNICAL HISTORY OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL SYSTEM FOR PROJECT MERCURY By Frank H. Samonski, Jr. Manned Spacecraft Center SUMMARY The primary goal of Project Mercury was to place a man into an earth orbit and to return him safely to earth. Throughout the program, astronaut safety was the prime consideration, and one of the most important design requirements was the maintenance of a habitable environment in space. This report describes the evolution of the environ- mental control system used in the Project Mercury spacecraft and presents a brief technical record of the significant system changes. Meeting the mission reliability ob- jectives required stringent attention to details of testing, and sections of this report describe the structure of test programs employed to satisfy the mission objectives. The flight experience with the environmental control system is presented for all the missions from Little Joe 5A, successfully accomplished on March 18, 1961, to Mercury-Atlas 9, which was successfully accomplished on May 15 and 16, 1963. INTRODUCTION The primary function of the environmental control system (ECS) was to provide and maintain a physiologically acceptable environment to support human life. This task required accurate and reliable control of gas composition, pressure, and temperature. A secondary function was to provide a satisfactory environment for the spacecraft elec- trical equipment by maintaining cabin pressure and temperature within suitable limits. The ECS design configuration was conceived by the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation (MAC), and the contract for hardware was awarded in February 1959. The system design is semiclosed, in which carbon dioxide CO is removed by ( 2) chemical absorption
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