Natural and induced environment around the International Space Station (ISS) as observed during on-orbit operations of the Robotic External Leak Locator (RELL)

Abstract

The Robotic External Leak Locator (RELL) was deployed to the International Space Station (ISS) with the goal of detecting and locating on-orbit leaks around the ISS. Three activities to investigate and corroborate the background natural and induced environment of ISS were performed with RELL as part of the on-orbit validation and demonstration conducted in November -December 2016. The first demonstration activity pointed RELL directly in the ram and wake directions for one orbit each. The ram facing measurements showed high partial pressure for mass-to-charge ratio 16, corresponding to atomic oxygen (AO), as well as the presence of mass-to-charge ratio 17. RELL's view in the wake-facing direction included more ISS structure and several Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) on-orbit vents were detected, including the Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly (CDRA), Russian segment ECLSS, and Sabatier vents. The second demonstration activity pointed RELL at three faces of the P1 Truss segment. Effluents from ECLSS and European Space Agency (ESA) Columbus module on-orbit vents were detected by RELL. The partial pressures of mass-to-charge ratios 17 and 18 remained consistent with the first on-orbit activity of characterizing the natural environment. The third demonstration activity involved RELL scanning an Active Thermal Control System (ATCS) radiator. Three locations along the radiator were scanned and the angular position of RELL with respect to the radiator was varied. Mass-to-charge ratios 16 and 17 both had upward shifts in partial pressure when pointing toward the Radiator Beam Valve Modules (RBVMs), likely corresponding to a known, small ammonia leak.

Using the potassium‐argon laser experiment (KArLE) to date ancient, low‐K chondritic meteorites

“…The LIBS‐MS method is an especially good match for future landed planetary missions because all of the necessary components (laser, optical spectrometers, mass spectrometer, microimaging, sample acquisition, and sample handling) have previously been proven on flight missions (e.g., ChemCam Maurice et al., 2012; Wiens et al., 2012, SuperCam Maurice et al., 2021; Wiens et al., 2021), Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM; Mahaffy et al., 2012), Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA; Li et al., 2017), Robotic External Leak Detector (RELL; Fox et al., 2018). The precision and accuracy of the LIBS‐MS approach to dating have been successfully demonstrated on many terrestrial samples (Cattani et al., 2019; Cho et al., 2016; Cho & Cohen, 2018; Cohen et al., 2014; Devismes et al., 2016; Solé, 2014) (Figure 1).…”