Logistics Reduction and Repurposing Beyond Low Earth Orbit

All human space missions, regardless of destination, require significant logistical mass and volume that is strongly proportional to mission duration. Anything that can be done to reduce initial mass and volume of supplies or reuse items that have been launched will be very valuable. Often, the logistical items require disposal and represent a trash burden. Logistics contributions to total mission architecture mass can be minimized by considering potential reuse using systems engineering analysis. In NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems "Logistics Reduction and Repurposing Project," various tasks will reduce the intrinsic mass of logistical packaging, enable reuse and repurposing of logistical packaging and carriers for other habitation, life support, crew health, and propulsion functions, and reduce or eliminate the nuisance aspects of trash at the same time. Repurposing reduces the trash burden and eliminates the need for hardware whose function can be provided by use of spent logistical items. However, these reuse functions need to be identified and built into future logical systems to enable them to effectively have a secondary function. These technologies and innovations will help future logistics systems to support multiple exploration missions much more efficiently

Development of a Universal Waste Management System

NASA is working with a number of commercial companies to develop the next low Earth orbit spacecraft. The hardware volume and weight constraints are similar to or greater than those of the Apollo era. This, coupled with the equally demanding cost challenge of the proposed commercial vehicles, causes much of the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) designs to be reconsidered. The Waste Collection System (WCS) is within this group of ECLSS hardware. The development to support this new initiative is discussed within. A WCS concept - intended to be common for all the vehicle platforms currently on the drawing board - is being developed. The new concept, referred to as the Universal Waste Management System (UWMS), includes favorable features from previous designs while improving on other areas on previous Space Shuttle and the existing International Space Station (ISS) WCS hardware, as needed. The intent is to build a commode that requires less crew time, improved cleanliness, and a 75% reduction in volume and weight compared to the previous US ISS/Extended Duration Orbitor WCS developed in the 1990s. The UWMS is most similar to the ISS Development Test Objective (DTO) WCS design. It is understood that the most dramatic cost reduction opportunity occurs at the beginning of the design process. To realize this opportunity, the cost of each similar component between the UWMS and the DTO WCS was determined. The comparison outlined were the design changes that would result with the greatest impact. The changes resulted in simplifying the approach or eliminating components completely. This initial UWMS paper will describe the system layout approach and a few key features of major components. Future papers will describe the UWMS functionality, test results, and components as they are developed

Development of a Universal Waste Management System

A concept for a Universal Waste Management System (UWMS) has been developed based on the knowledge gained from over 50 years of space travel. It is being designed for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and Multi ]Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) and is based upon the Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) commode. The UMWS was modified to enhance crew interface and reduce volume and cost. The UWMS will stow waste in fecal canisters, similar to the EDO, and urine will be stowed in bags for in orbit change out. This allows the pretreated urine to be subsequently processed and recovered as drinking water. The new design combines two fans and a rotary phase separator on a common shaft to allow operation by a single motor. This change enhances packaging by reducing the volume associated with an extra motor, associated controller, harness, and supporting structure. The separator pumps urine to either a dual bag design for COTS vehicles or directly into a water reclamation system. The commode is supported by a concentric frame, enhancing its structural integrity while further reducing the volume from the previous design. The UWMS flight concept development effort is underway and an early output of the development will be a ground based UMWS prototype for manned testing. Referred to as the Gen 3 unit, this prototype will emulate the crew interface included in the UWMS and will offer a great deal of knowledge regarding the usability of the new design, allowing the design team the opportunity to modify the UWMS flight concept based on the manned testing

International Space Station Crew Quarters Ventilation and Acoustic Design Implementation

The International Space Station (ISS) United States Operational Segment has four permanent rack sized ISS Crew Quarters (CQs) providing a private crew member space. The CQs use Node 2 cabin air for ventilation/thermal cooling, as opposed to conditioned ducted air-from the ISS Common Cabin Air Assembly (CCAA) or the ISS fluid cooling loop. Consequently, CQ can only increase the air flow rate to reduce the temperature delta between the cabin and the CQ interior. However, increasing airflow causes increased acoustic noise so efficient airflow distribution is an important design parameter. The CQ utilized a two fan push-pull configuration to ensure fresh air at the crew member's head position and reduce acoustic exposure. The CQ ventilation ducts are conduits to the louder Node 2 cabin aisle way which required significant acoustic mitigation controls. The CQ interior needs to be below noise criteria curve 40 (NC-40). The design implementation of the CQ ventilation system and acoustic mitigation are very inter-related and require consideration of crew comfort balanced with use of interior habitable volume, accommodation of fan failures, and possible crew uses that impact ventilation and acoustic performance. Each CQ required 13% of its total volume and approximately 6% of its total mass to reduce acoustic noise. This paper illustrates the types of model analysis, assumptions, vehicle interactions, and trade-offs required for CQ ventilation and acoustics. Additionally, on-orbit ventilation system performance and initial crew feedback is presented. This approach is applicable to any private enclosed space that the crew will occupy

Logistics Reduction Technologies for Exploration Missions

Human exploration missions under study are limited by the launch mass capacity of existing and planned launch vehicles. The logistical mass of crew items is typically considered separate from the vehicle structure, habitat outfitting, and life support systems. Although mass is typically the focus of exploration missions, due to its strong impact on launch vehicle and habitable volume for the crew, logistics volume also needs to be considered. NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) Project is developing six logistics technologies guided by a systems engineering cradle-to-grave approach to enable after-use crew items to augment vehicle systems. Specifically, AES LRR is investigating the direct reduction of clothing mass, the repurposing of logistical packaging, the use of autonomous logistics management technologies, the processing of spent crew items to benefit radiation shielding and water recovery, and the conversion of trash to propulsion gases. Reduction of mass has a corresponding and significant impact to logistical volume. The reduction of logistical volume can reduce the overall pressurized vehicle mass directly, or indirectly benefit the mission by allowing for an increase in habitable volume during the mission. The systematic implementation of these types of technologies will increase launch mass efficiency by enabling items to be used for secondary purposes and improve the habitability of the vehicle as mission durations increase. Early studies have shown that the use of advanced logistics technologies can save approximately 20 m(sup 3) of volume during transit alone for a six-person Mars conjunction class mission

Logistics Reduction Technologies for Exploration Missions

Human exploration missions under study are very limited by the launch mass capacity of existing and planned vehicles. The logistical mass of crew items is typically considered separate from the vehicle structure, habitat outfitting, and life support systems. Consequently, crew item logistical mass is typically competing with vehicle systems for mass allocation. NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) Project is developing five logistics technologies guided by a systems engineering cradletograve approach to enable used crew items to augment vehicle systems. Specifically, AES LRR is investigating the direct reduction of clothing mass, the repurposing of logistical packaging, the use of autonomous logistics management technologies, the processing of spent crew items to benefit radiation shielding and water recovery, and the conversion of trash to propulsion gases. The systematic implementation of these types of technologies will increase launch mass efficiency by enabling items to be used for secondary purposes and improve the habitability of the vehicle as the mission duration increases. This paper provides a description and the challenges of the five technologies under development and the estimated overall mission benefits of each technology