Life Support

Kevin here, providing a quick update on life support. As of now, the life support systems will consist of 5 subsystems to provide LEVITATE's crew with a habitable environment.

The Trace Contaminate Removal System (TCRS) will provide a means to scrub the air of basic contaminates produced from electronic offgassing and metabolic processes. These things might include ammonia, carbon monoxide, methane, etc... It will use an activated charcoal bed to trap the contaminates and a catalytic oxidizer to combust the low molecular weight components like CO and CH4.

The Carbon Dioxide Removal System (CDRS) will remove CO2 from the cabin. It will use molecular seive media to trap the CO2. This media can be regenerated under heat and vacuum. Therefore, multiple beds will be used on LEVITATE to provide a regenerative system. This will provide a long-life minimum maintenance system for the crew.

The Temperature and Humidity Control (THC) sub-system will provide a means to control the temperature and humidity. It will use two heat exchanger asssemblies which utalize hydrophilic fins to control condensate and temperature levels.

The condensate and other waste water from the cabin will be processed in the Waste Water and Condensate Processing (WWCP) assembly. This system utalizes a distillation assembly to purge the contaminated water of brine and other micro-organisms so the crew can have refreshed water stores throught their mission.

Finally, the Nitrogen and Oxygen Control (NOC) system will provide the cabin pressurization as well as the breathable oxygen that we require to survive. Since the mission duration of LEVITATE is specified to be no more than 14 days, onboard oxygen will not be required.

These life support systems will be stored in standard ISS lockers, which can be house in standard ISS EXPRESS Racks. Each locker is approximately 20" x 10" x 15". Each rack is about 6' tall, 40" wide and 2' deep. Each rack can hold ~ 8-10 Lockers.

I'm looking forward to more posts in the future!

-Kevin and the UW LEVITATE Team