Redesigning a Spacesuit Carbon Dioxide Sensor
Problem statement
Collins Aerospace is the prime contractor for NASA’s Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU), more commonly known as the space suit. Collins Aerospace has provided space suits for NASA since the Gemini program and continues to develop new technologies and equipment for the next generation of suits that will bring us to the moon and Mars. One of the functions of the suit is to provide clean oxygen to be breathed by the astronaut in the space suit. Most space suits recirculate the oxygen and scrub out carbon dioxide (CO2) and humidity within the life support system. An essential part of this ventilation loop is the CO2 sensor, which measures the levels of CO2 in the oxygen and can be used to control the CO2 scrubber and provide essential system performance information to the crew. Today’s sensor uses non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) to detect how much CO2 is in the oxygen. The basics of the technology are well-known and flight-proven. However, implementing an NDIR sensor in the next generation suit is non-trivial, and must consider humidity, condensation, temperature, dust, long term accuracy, response time, and power consumption. The scope of this project is to concept, analyze, fabricate and test the mechanical aspects of a new CO2 sensor for Collins’ advanced space suit. The sensor will use the existing electronics, but with a “clean sheet of paper” design for the ventilation loop interface and the electronics enclosure. The project goals are to minimize the sensor’s impact on the ventilation loop while simplifying the overall sensor compared to the one being used today.
Team members
Tristen Plagge – leader
Ashley Himmelmann – communicator
Kevin Kirk – accountant
Galen Riley – admin