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2021

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Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Space Habitation and Life Support

Lupa: An Excursion Vehicle For The Moons Of Mars, Shannon Kavanagh, Bo Lewis, Alex Odinamba, Joshua Mulhern Dec 2021

Lupa: An Excursion Vehicle For The Moons Of Mars, Shannon Kavanagh, Bo Lewis, Alex Odinamba, Joshua Mulhern

Senior Design Project For Engineers

Our team has designed a spacecraft and mission for exploring the moons of Mars. The Lithological and Ultraviolet Photometry Assessment (LUPA) excursion vehicle is capable of crew habitation, autonomous rendezvous, and in-vacuum sample collection all in support of a parallel Mars surface mission to be carried out in the year 2040. Our project's key focus areas revolve around orbital mechanics, space vehicle propulsion analysis, scientific exploration, and the management of various interconnected spacecraft subsystems.


Radiation Effects On Space Solar Cells At Various Earth And Jupiter Orbital Altitudes, Naazneen Rana Aug 2021

Radiation Effects On Space Solar Cells At Various Earth And Jupiter Orbital Altitudes, Naazneen Rana

Discovery Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Internship

Solar cells are used as the primary power source for earth-orbiting satellites and as a primary/secondary power source for various missions within the solar system. However, high energy particles from the sun, planetary magnetospheres, and the galaxy can affect the performance and life expectancy of the space solar cell and associated power systems. As the interests for interplanetary travel and the exploration of planets within our solar system increase, the need to understand a device’s performance within a particular planet’s environment is necessary. Therefore, this study will analyze the performance of space solar cells, particularly the SolAero IMM-α, at various …


Plasma-Based Water Purification For Crewed Space Missions: Laboratory Experimental Comparisons For On-Board Applicability, Ryan P. Gott, Sydney D. Miller, Josie C. Hodges, Kunning G. Xu Aug 2021

Plasma-Based Water Purification For Crewed Space Missions: Laboratory Experimental Comparisons For On-Board Applicability, Ryan P. Gott, Sydney D. Miller, Josie C. Hodges, Kunning G. Xu

PRC-Affiliated Research

Low-temperature, atmospheric pressure plasma presents a new, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly method of water purification. For long duration crewed space missions, a novel water purification system that does not rely on consumable filters and chemicals would be desirable. Plasma systems provide a viable option for these missions, but their operation and designs need to be optimized and compared to existing technology. For this application, gas and power usage are key limiting factors. In this work, water contaminated with methylene blue is purified with plasma. The rate of purification, gas flow usage, and power consumption are compared for multiple devices. A …


Plasma-Based Water Purification For Crewed Space Missions: Laboratory Experimental Comparisons For On-Board Applicability, Ryan P. Gott, Sydney D. Miller, Josie C. Hodges, Kunning G. Xu Aug 2021

Plasma-Based Water Purification For Crewed Space Missions: Laboratory Experimental Comparisons For On-Board Applicability, Ryan P. Gott, Sydney D. Miller, Josie C. Hodges, Kunning G. Xu

PRC-Affiliated Research

Low-temperature, atmospheric pressure plasma presents a new, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly method of water purification. For long duration crewed space missions, a novel water purification system that does not rely on consumable filters and chemicals would be desirable. Plasma systems provide a viable option for these missions, but their operation and designs need to be optimized and compared to existing technology. For this application, gas and power usage are key limiting factors. In this work, water contaminated with methylene blue is purified with plasma. The rate of purification, gas flow usage, and power consumption are compared for multiple devices. A …


Effects And Solutions On The Human Body After Long-Duration Space Flights, Jose Jaime Esquivel Patricio Jul 2021

Effects And Solutions On The Human Body After Long-Duration Space Flights, Jose Jaime Esquivel Patricio

McNair Research Journal SJSU

During the Cold War, President John F. Kennedy made it a mission for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to accomplish a lunar landing and return to Earth. The final lunar landing and the last time humans left Low Earth Orbit (LEO) was in December, 1972. However, 47 years have passed and the fascination with traveling into deep space remains alive and flourishing. A major problem with future human missions to Mars is the effects of microgravity and Mars’ 0.38g environment. Unfortunately, space medicine is limited and little is known about the effects of microgravity on the human body …


Nasa Micro-G Next Challenge: Sample Container Dispensing Device, Kristin G. Kraybill-Voth, Kelsey L. Mickelson, Oscar D. Popravka Jun 2021

Nasa Micro-G Next Challenge: Sample Container Dispensing Device, Kristin G. Kraybill-Voth, Kelsey L. Mickelson, Oscar D. Popravka

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) report outlines a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo senior design project developing a sample container dispensing device for NASA Johnson Space Center’s Micro-g NExT design challenge, a competition for university students. NASA aims to bring the first woman and next man to the moon through the Artemis missions beginning in 2024. The Micro-g NExT 2021 challenges focus on developing equipment which will support the Artemis mission, where Astronauts will conduct extensive geological sampling to further the scientific understanding of the moon. Our team designed, built, and tested a device that holds sample bags as they …


Space Suit Attachment Quick Release System, Elyse C. Gillis-Smith, Andres I. Elzaurdia, Cole H. Stanton, Michael T. Roth Jun 2021

Space Suit Attachment Quick Release System, Elyse C. Gillis-Smith, Andres I. Elzaurdia, Cole H. Stanton, Michael T. Roth

Mechanical Engineering

NASA plans to make it back to the Moon by 2024 with their Artemis Program, and stay there for a longer period of time to conduct research which will support the future of space exploration. While on the lunar surface, astronauts need to maximize their efficiency by carrying tools on their Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), and to accommodate this need, the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Tools Team is pursuing a utility belt concept. The objective of this project is to develop a system capable of interfacing between the utility belt and any given tool, while also accommodating numerous restrictions and …


Spacecraft Informatics, K. L. Yung, Lida Xu, Chris Zhang Jan 2021

Spacecraft Informatics, K. L. Yung, Lida Xu, Chris Zhang

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Investigating The Feasibility Of 5g In A Lunar Environment, Adam Usher, William Wilcox, Taylor Modlin Jan 2021

Investigating The Feasibility Of 5g In A Lunar Environment, Adam Usher, William Wilcox, Taylor Modlin

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this project is to examine the feasibility of implementing a 5G wireless network in a lunar environment. In order to do so, the ideas and technologies behind 5G should be explored, as well as how it relates to previous wireless technologies in terms of speed, coverage, latency, and other important factors for a successful lunar network. A simplified representation of the lunar network was created to observe how the system would function. Two Arduino Uno boards were used alongside a wifi shield to simulate a lunar rover taking in data through sensors, compiling the data, sending it …


Modeling And Simulation Of Electromagnetic Fields To Maintain Bone Density During Prolonged Low Gravity Exposure, Austin Tapp, Michael Francis, Michel A. Audette Jan 2021

Modeling And Simulation Of Electromagnetic Fields To Maintain Bone Density During Prolonged Low Gravity Exposure, Austin Tapp, Michael Francis, Michel A. Audette

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Astronauts in a long term, low-gravity environments experience bone density loss at 10 times the rate of those diagnosed with osteoporosis. One treatment effective at maintaining bone density in osteoporotic individuals is electromagnetic field (EMF) therapy. Tools that induce EMFs are becoming increasingly prevalent, but to amplify osteogenesis and encourage superior bone density retention for astronauts, ideal EMF therapy parameters must be determined on patient-specific bases. Therefore, this study explores simulation environments that elucidate highly favorable EMF factors. Pulsed electromagnetic field and combined magnetic field generating devices are variably introduced near partient-specific, finite element (FE) models of the femur, spine, …