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Amy B. Button

Bio: Amy B. Button is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Space suit & Trace gas. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 4 publications receiving 9 citations.

Papers
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01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: One of NASA Johnson Space Center's test articles of the amine-based carbon dioxide and water vapor sorbent system known as the CO2 And Moisture Removal Amine Swing-bed, or CAMRAS, was incorporated into a payload on the International Space Station (ISS) as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: One of NASA Johnson Space Center's test articles of the amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent system known as the CO2 And Moisture Removal Amine Swing-bed, or CAMRAS, was incorporated into a payload on the International Space Station (ISS). The intent of the payload is to demonstrate the spacecraft-environment viability of the core atmosphere revitalization technology baselined for the new Orion vehicle. In addition to the air blower, vacuum connection, and controls needed to run the CAMRAS, the payload incorporates a suite of sensors for scientific data gathering, a water save function, and an air save function. The water save function minimizes the atmospheric water vapor reaching the CAMRAS unit, thereby reducing ISS water losses that are otherwise acceptable, and even desirable, in the Orion environment. The air save function captures about half of the ullage air that would normally be vented overboard every time the cabin air-adsorbing and space vacuum-desorbing CAMRAS beds swap functions. The JSC team conducted 1000 hours of on-orbit Amine Swingbed Payload testing in 2013 and early 2014. This paper presents the basics of the payload's design and history, as well as a summary of the test results, including comparisons with prelaunch testing.

3 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
14 Jul 2013
TL;DR: An amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent in pressure-swing regenerable beds has been developed by Hamilton Sundstrand and baselined for the Atmosphere Revitalization System for moderate duration missions of the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: An amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent in pressure-swing regenerable beds has been developed by Hamilton Sundstrand and baselined for the Atmosphere Revitalization System for moderate duration missions of the Orion Multipurpose Crew Vehicle. In previous years at this conference, reports were presented on extensive Johnson Space Center testing of this technology in a sea-level pressure environment with simulated and actual human metabolic loads in both open and closed-loop configurations. In 2011, the technology was tested in an open cabin-loop configuration at ambient and two sub-ambient pressures to compare the performance of the system to the results of previous tests at ambient pressure. The testing used a human metabolic simulator with a different type of water vapor generation than previously used, which added some unique challenges in the data analysis. This paper summarizes the results of: baseline and some matrix testing at all three cabin pressures, increased vacuum regeneration line pressure with a high metabolic load, a set of tests studying CO2 and water vapor co-adsorption effects relative to model-predicted performance, and validation tests of flight program computer model predictions with specific operating conditions.

3 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this article, an amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent was developed by Hamilton Sundstrand and baselined for the Orion Atmosphere Revitalization System (ARS).
Abstract: Every spacecraft atmosphere contains trace contaminants resulting from offgassing by cabin materials and human passengers. An amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent in pressure-swing regenerable beds has been developed by Hamilton Sundstrand and baselined for the Orion Atmosphere Revitalization System (ARS). Part of the risk mitigation effort for this new technology is the study of how atmospheric trace contaminants will affect and be affected by the technology. One particular area of concern is ammonia, which, in addition to the normal spacecraft sources, can also be offgassed by the amine-based sorbent. In the spring of 2009, tests were performed at Johnson Space Center (JSC) with typical cabin atmosphere levels of five of the most common trace gases, most of which had not yet been tested with this technology. A subscale sample of the sorbent was exposed to each of the chemicals mixed into a stream of moist, CO2-laden air, and the CO2 adsorption capacity of the sorbent was compared before and after the exposure. After these typical-concentration chemicals were proven to have negligible effect on the subscale sample, tests proceeded on a full-scale test article in a sealed chamber with a suite of eleven contaminants. To isolate the effects of various test rig components, several extended-duration tests were run: without injection or scrubbing, with injection and without scrubbing, with injection of both contaminants and metabolic CO2 and water vapor loads and scrubbing by both the test article and dedicated trace contaminant filters, and with the same injections and scrubbing by only the test article. The high-level results of both the subscale and full-scale tests are examined in this paper.

2 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: An amine-based carbon dioxide and water vapor sorbent in pressure-swing regenerable beds has been developed by Hamilton Sundstrand and baselined for the Orion Atmosphere Revitalization System (ARS) as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: An amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent in pressure-swing regenerable beds has been developed by Hamilton Sundstrand and baselined for the Orion Atmosphere Revitalization System (ARS). In three previous years at this conference, reports were presented on extensive Johnson Space Center (JSC) testing of this technology. That testing was performed in a sea-level pressure environment with both simulated and real human metabolic loads, and in both open and closed-loop configurations. The Orion ARS is designed to also support space-suited operations in a depressurized cabin, so the next step in developmental testing at JSC was to test the ARS technology in a typical closed space suit-loop environment with low-pressure oxygen inside the process loop and vacuum outside the loop. This was the first instance of low-pressure, high-oxygen, closed-loop testing of the Orion ARS technology, and it was conducted with simulated human metabolic loads in March 2009. The test investigated pressure drops and flow balancing through two different styles of prototype suit umbilical connectors. General swing-bed performance was tested with both umbilical configurations, as well as with a short jumper line installed in place of the umbilicals. Other interesting results include observations on the thermal effects of swing-bed operation in a vacuum environment and a recommendation of cycle time to maintain acceptable suit atmospheric CO2 and moisture levels.

1 citations


Cited by
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13 Jul 2014
TL;DR: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan (SSTIP) was released in December 2012 as mentioned in this paper, which provides guidance for NASA's space technology investment over the next four years to support a 20-year space exploration horizon.
Abstract: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Strategic Space Technology Investment Plan (SSTIP) was released in December 2012. This plan, crafted from a series of draft Space Technology Roadmaps that were reviewed and critiqued by the National Research Council with input from public and key stakeholders, provides guidance for NASA’s space technology investment over the next four years to support a 20-year space exploration horizon. Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) is among the eight (8) core technology investment areas that the SSTIP specifically identifies as indispensable for NASA’s present and planned future missions. Improving reliability, reducing logistics burdens, and increasing loop closure are identified as key challenges to lowering overall mission life cycle costs and enabling a wider range of mission opportunities. To meet these challenges, the NASA ECLS community identified key technology gaps that need to be filled in order to enable and enhance representative classes of exploration missions. Over the last year, the effort to identify and prioritize technology gaps has evolved to include implementation planning through the efforts of newly-established NASA System Maturation Teams. An important component of this planning has been to assist senior agency leaders and program managers to understand ECLS investment needs and to organize a coherent, integrated investment strategy that leverages contributions across multiple directorates and

8 citations

01 Jan 2017
TL;DR: An iterative multi-criteria system analysis of the safety, reliability and technology readiness level of different life support technologies were performed in conjunction with an equivalent system mass (ESM) analysis, showing, that a feasible ECLSS is possible with the made assumptions and constraints.
Abstract: At the International Astronautical Congress IAC on 27th September 2016, Elon Musk, CEO, lead designer, and founder of SpaceX, presented a detailed concept for a superheavy lift two-stage rocket, called Interplanetary Transport System (ITS). This system is expected to be capable to transport up-to one hundred passengers to Mars. Since space is a hazardous environment, humans can only survive in it with special equipment. This equipment is normally called Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS), which must ensure suitable environmental conditions and a continuous consumable supply for the crew. For the anticipated system, the development of such an ECLSS will be a challenge because only limited resources like payload mass and power are available. Therefore, an optimized system is necessary. For the selection of the ECLSS, an iterative multi-criteria system analysis of the safety, reliability and technology readiness level of different life support technologies were performed in conjunction with an equivalent system mass (ESM) analysis. To offset the static character of the ESM analysis, an initial transient (one day) analysis of the systems was performed based on a tradeoff for 6 different crew schedules. For this, a new tool was developed, called Life Support Trade Off Tool (LiSTOT). With the help of this spreadsheet tool, trade analyses can be made within a short time. Overall 37 different technologies were initially compared with each other and down selected to yield the optimum arrangement based on the initially variables. The variables are crew size, mission duration, pressurized volume, payload mass, and selected crew schedule. To ensure that the developed system remains feasible in a more realistic dynamic environment, a detailed model of the ECLSS was created in Virtual Habitat. Virtual Habitat is a simulation tool of the Technical University of Munich that was already used to successfully model the ISS ECLSS. This model was then used to dynamically simulate a journey to Mars. The results show, that a feasible ECLSS is possible with the made assumptions and constraints. For a one-hundred-person crew only a system which stores all necessary consumables is technically feasible. This is necessary since the power consumption for a recycling system of such a large system would be higher than the power capability of the vehicle. This derives a vast drawback on the required mass and volume. It is recommended, that additional power and thermal heat rejection resources are installed to reduce the mentioned disadvantages.

5 citations

12 Jul 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss several iterations of design studies from the life support system perspective to examine which requirements and assumptions, programmatic needs, or interfaces drive design, when doing early concept studies, many assumptions have to be made about technology and operations.
Abstract: Life support system architectures for long duration space missions are often explored analytically in the human spaceflight community to find optimum solutions for mass, performance, and reliability. But in reality, many other constraints can guide the design when the life support system is examined within the context of an overall vehicle, as well as specific programmatic goals and needs. Between the end of the Constellation program and the development of the "Evolvable Mars Campaign", NASA explored a broad range of mission possibilities. Most of these missions will never be implemented but the lessons learned during these concept development phases may color and guide future analytical studies and eventual life support system architectures. This paper discusses several iterations of design studies from the life support system perspective to examine which requirements and assumptions, programmatic needs, or interfaces drive design. When doing early concept studies, many assumptions have to be made about technology and operations. Data can be pulled from a variety of sources depending on the study needs, including parametric models, historical data, new technologies, and even predictive analysis. In the end, assumptions must be made in the face of uncertainty. Some of these may introduce more risk as to whether the solution for the conceptual design study will still work when designs mature and data becomes available.

4 citations

13 Jul 2014
TL;DR: In this paper, the feasibility of using carbon sorbents for the reversible, concurrent sorption of carbon dioxide and ammonia was demonstrated at room temperature, and multiple adsorption/vacuum-regeneration cycles were demonstrated.
Abstract: Results are presented on the development of reversible sorbents for the combined carbon dioxide and trace-contaminant (TC) removal for use in Extravehicular Activities (EVAs). Since ammonia is the most important TC to be captured, data on TC sorption presented in this paper are limited to ammonia, with results relevant to other TCs to be reported at a later time. The currently available life support systems use separate units for carbon dioxide, trace contaminants, and moisture control, and the long-term objective is to replace the above three modules with a single one. Furthermore, the current TC-control technology involves the use of a packed bed of acid-impregnated granular charcoal, which is non-regenerable, and the carbon-based sorbent under development in this project can be regenerated by exposure to vacuum at room temperature. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the feasibility of using carbon sorbents for the reversible, concurrent sorption of carbon dioxide and ammonia. Several carbon sorbents were fabricated and tested, and multiple adsorption/vacuum-regeneration cycles were demonstrated at room temperature, and also a carbon surface conditioning technique that enhances the combined carbon dioxide and ammonia sorption without impairing sorbent regeneration.

4 citations

01 Jan 2014
TL;DR: One of NASA Johnson Space Center's test articles of the amine-based carbon dioxide and water vapor sorbent system known as the CO2 And Moisture Removal Amine Swing-bed, or CAMRAS, was incorporated into a payload on the International Space Station (ISS) as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: One of NASA Johnson Space Center's test articles of the amine-based carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor sorbent system known as the CO2 And Moisture Removal Amine Swing-bed, or CAMRAS, was incorporated into a payload on the International Space Station (ISS). The intent of the payload is to demonstrate the spacecraft-environment viability of the core atmosphere revitalization technology baselined for the new Orion vehicle. In addition to the air blower, vacuum connection, and controls needed to run the CAMRAS, the payload incorporates a suite of sensors for scientific data gathering, a water save function, and an air save function. The water save function minimizes the atmospheric water vapor reaching the CAMRAS unit, thereby reducing ISS water losses that are otherwise acceptable, and even desirable, in the Orion environment. The air save function captures about half of the ullage air that would normally be vented overboard every time the cabin air-adsorbing and space vacuum-desorbing CAMRAS beds swap functions. The JSC team conducted 1000 hours of on-orbit Amine Swingbed Payload testing in 2013 and early 2014. This paper presents the basics of the payload's design and history, as well as a summary of the test results, including comparisons with prelaunch testing.

3 citations