An Electronic Nose is being developed at JPL and Caltech for use in environmental monitoring in the International Space Station. The Electronic Nose (ENose) is an array of 32 polymer film cmnductometric sensors; the pattern of response may be deconvoluted to identify contaminants in the environment. An engineering test model of the ENose was used to monitor the air of the Early Human Test experiment at Johnson Space Center for 49 days. Examination of the data recorded by the ENose shows that major excursions in the resistance recorded in the sensor array may be correlated with events recorded in the Test Logs of the Test Chamber.
Capillary solutions have long existed for the control of liquid inventories in spacecraft fluid systems such as liquid propellants, cryogens and thermal fluids for temperature control. Such large length scale, 'lowgravity,' capillary systems exploit container geometry and fluid properties-primarily wetting-to passively locate or transport fluids to desired positions for a variety of purposes. Such methods have only been confidently established if the wetting conditions are known and favorable. In this paper, several of the significant challenges for 'capillary solutions' to low-gravity multiphase fluids management aboard spacecraft are briefly reviewed in light of applications common to life support systems that emphasize the impact of the widely varying wetting properties typical of aqueous systems. A restrictive though no less typifying example of passive phase separation in a urine collection system is highlighted that identifies key design considerations potentially met by predominately capillary solutions. Sample results from novel scale model prototype testing aboard a NASA low-g aircraft are presented that support the various design considerations.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations鈥揷itations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.