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Space Suit Portable Life Support System 2.0 Unmanned Vacuum Environment Testing

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Space Suit Portable Life Support System 2.0 Unmanned Vacuum Environment Testing 47th International Conference on Environmental Systems ICES-2017-105 16-20 July 2017, Charleston, South Carolina Space Suit Portable Life Support System 2.0 Unmanned Vacuum Environment Testing Carly Meginnis,1 Ian Anchondo,2 Marlon Cox3, and David Westheimer4 NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, 77058 and Matthew Vogel 5 HX5, LLC., Houston, TX, 77058 For the first time in more than 30 years, an advanced space suit Portable Life Support System (PLSS) design was operated inside a vacuum chamber representative of the flight operating environment. The test article, PLSS 2.0, was the second system-level integrated prototype of the advanced PLSS design, following the PLSS 1.0 Breadboard that was developed and tested throughout 2011. Whereas PLSS 1.0 included five technology development components with the balance of the system simulated using commercial off-the- shelf items, PLSS 2.0 featured first generation or later prototypes for all components, less instrumentation, tubing, and fittings. Developed throughout 2012, PLSS 2.0 was the first attempt to package the system into a flight representative volume. PLSS 2.0 testing included an extensive functional evaluation known as Pre-Installation Acceptance testing, Human-in- the-Loop testing in which the PLSS 2.0 prototype was integrated via umbilicals to a manned prototype space suit for 19 2-hour simulated extravehicular activities (EVAs), and unmanned vacuum environment testing. Unmanned vacuum environment testing took place from 1/9/15-7/9/15 with PLSS 2.0 located inside a vacuum chamber. Test sequences included performance mapping of several components, carbon dioxide removal evaluations at simulated intravehicular activity conditions, a regulator pressure schedule assessment, and culminated with 25 simulated EVAs. During the unmanned vacuum environment test series, PLSS 2.0 accumulated 393 hours of integrated testing, including 291 hours of operation in a vacuum environment and 199 hours of simulated EVA time. The PLSS prototype performed nominally throughout the test series, with two notable exceptions including a pump failure and a Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator leak, for which post-test failure investigations were performed. In addition to generating an extensive database of PLSS 2.0 performance data, achievements included requirements and operational concepts verification, as well as demonstration of vehicular interfaces, consumables sizing and recharge, and water quality control. Nomenclature °F = degrees Fahrenheit acfm = actual cubic feet per minute AEMU = Advanced Extravehicular Mobility Unit 1 PLSS Development Engineer, Space Suit and Crew Survival Systems Branch, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058. 2 PLSS Development Engineer, Space Suit and Crew Survival Systems Branch, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058. 3 PLSS Development Engineer, Space Suit and Crew Survival Systems Branch, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058. 4 PLSS Development Engineer, Space Suit and Crew Survival Systems Branch, 2101 NASA Parkway, Houston, TX 77058. 5 Thermal Analyst, Thermal Analysis and Electronics Design, 2224 Bay Area Boulevard, Houston, TX 77058. AFSA = Auxiliary Feedwater Supply Assembly AgF = silver fluoride ATCL = Auxiliary Thermal Control Loop BPV = Back Pressure Valve Btu = British thermal unit CO2 = carbon dioxide COTS = commercial off-the-shelf DACS = Data Acquisition and Control System DAQ = Data Acquisition System DP = differential pressure EMU = Extravehicular Mobility Unit EVA = extravehicular activity FSA = Feedwater Supply Assembly GN2 = Gaseous nitrogen H2O = water HCT = half cycle time hr = hour HITL = Human-in-the-Loop HMS = human metabolic simulator in = inch ISS = International Space Station IVA = intravehicular activity JSC = Johnson Space Center krpm = kilo revolutions per minute lb = pound lbm = pound mass LCVG = Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment min = minute mm Hg = millimeters of Mercury MSPV = Multiposition Suit Purge Valve NH3 = ammonia ops con = operational concept OVL = Oxygen Ventilation Loop PCO2 = partial pressure CO2 PEEK = poly-ether-ether-ketone PIA = Pre-Installation Acceptance PLSS = Portable Life Support System POL = Primary Oxygen Loop POR = Primary Oxygen Regulator POV = Primary Oxygen Vessel psia = pounds per square inch absolute psig = pounds per square inch gauge PT = pressure transducer RCA = Rapid Cycle Amine rpm = revolutions per minute SI = suit inlet SO = suit outlet SOL = Secondary Oxygen Loop SOR = Secondary Oxgyen Regulator SOV = Secondary Oxygen Vessel SSA = Space Suit Assembly SSAS = Space Suit Assembly Simulator SWME = Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator TCL = Thermal Control Loop TCV = Thermal Control Valve W = Watts 2 International Conference on Environmental Systems I. Introduction n advanced space suit Portable Life Support System (PLSS) development effort has been underway for several Ayears at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) with the ultimate goal of producing a design that leverages historical lessons learned from the Space Shuttle/International Space Station (ISS) Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) and technological advancements to generate a less complex design that is more robust and reliable, uses less consumables, and provides more operational flexibility and system capabilities than the current state-of-the-art. To this end, an iterative development approach was utilized in which component and system-level designs were built and tested to mature technologies, requirements, and interfaces for an exploration PLSS capable of supporting missions in low-Earth orbit, microgravity near-Earth destinations, the lunar surface, cislunar space, or the surface of Mars. The advanced PLSS development effort began with a schematic/technologies study in 2005 and progressed through component feasibility testing, system architecture design, and requirements development. The first system- level test, PLSS 1.0, followed in 2011 and accumulated more than 400 hours of integrated testing. PLSS 1.0 (Breadboard) incorporated five technology development prototypes – Primary Oxygen Regulator (POR) and Secondary Oxygen Regulator (SOR), Ventilation Loop Fan, Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) swingbed, and Spacesuit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) – with the balance of the pneumo-hydraulic schematic simulated using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment.1 System performance and other lessons learned from this testing engendered improved component and system-level designs.2,3 With design and development starting in late 2011 through early 2013,4-6 PLSS 2.0 was conceived as the second system-level integrated advanced PLSS test article, containing second or third generation prototype components for the five technology development items included in PLSS 1.0 and first generation prototypes for the remaining components. Instrumentation, tubing, and most fittings were COTS items. PLSS 2.0 was packaged into a volume and outer mold line representative of the 2012 Suitport concept, but as this was the first proof-of-concept, non flight- like packaging attempt, the focus did not include weight optimization or environments such as launch vibration or radiation. PLSS 2.0 was developed to characterize system performance in several test configurations and orientations, evaluate operational concepts, and simulate failures. Further, the effort sought to mature controller algorithms as well as design requirements and specifications. Testing began with the Pre-Installation Acceptance (PIA) test series, which lasted from March 2013 until March 2014 and comprised 27 individual test sequences designed to functionally evaluate component performance as installed in the integrated system.7,8 The second PLSS 2.0 test series was Human-in-the-Loop (HITL) testing, which occurred from October through December 2014. For this test series, 19 manned 2-hour simulated extravehicular activity (EVA) test points were completed in which the test subject walked in the pressurized Mark III space suit prototype on a treadmill to achieve a desired metabolic rate profile. The PLSS 2.0 assembly, operated in an ambient pressure and temperature environment with vacuum access as required for nominal functionality, provided suit pressure regulation, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) vapor removal, and test subject cooling during simulated nominal and contingency modes.9-11 After the completion of HITL testing, unmanned PLSS 2.0 testing resumed in January 2015 to demonstrate PLSS 2.0 performance in a vacuum environment as well as complete several follow-on evaluations in the ambient laboratory environment. PLSS 2.0 vacuum environment testing was performed at JSC from January through July 2015. The majority of this test series was completed with the PLSS 2.0 assembly operating in a vacuum environment, although several test sequences were conducted at ambient pressure. The test series included numerous independent tests and culminated with 25 simulated EVAs. This report presents a selection of results and findings from the PLSS 2.0 unmanned vacuum environment test series. II. An Overview of the Portable Life Support System 2.0 Test System The design and configuration of the PLSS 2.0 test article is documented in other publications8,10; however, the test system was modified for each test series to achieve the particular set of objectives. The PLSS 2.0 test system was composed of hardware and instrumentation to support testing operations, including: a simulated vehicle thermal loop; simulated vehicle high pressure gas recharge system; human metabolic simulator (HMS); Space Suit Assembly
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