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Safety concerns for first entry operations of orbiting spacecraftThe Space Station Freedom crew will face operational problems unique to the spacecraft environment due to the absence of convection currents and the confined atmosphere within the habitable modules. Airborne contaminants from the materials offgassing or contingency incidents like thermodegradation may accumulate until they reach hazardous concentrations. Flow modeling and experiences from previous space flight missions confirm that caution must be exercised during first-entry operations. A review of the first-entry procedures performed during the Skylab Program will be presented to highlight the necessity for carefully planned operations. Many of the environmental conditions that can be expected on the Space Station are analogous to those which exist in confined storage or work spaces in the industrial setting. Experience with closed-loop environmental operations (e.g., atmospheric control of submarines) have also demonstrated that the buildup of trace contaminant gases could result in conditions that lead to mission termination or loss of crew. Consequently, some first-entry issues for the Station can be addressed by comparing them to familiar techniques developed on Earth. The instruments of the Environmental Health System (EHS) will provide the necessary monitoring capability to protect crew health and safety during the planned first-entry procedures of the MTC phase of the SSF Program. The authors of this paper will describe those procedures and will cite an example of the consequences when proper first-entry procedures are not followed.
Document ID
19940029156
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Wilson, Steven H.
(Krug Life Sciences, Inc. Houston, TX., United States)
Limero, Thomas F.
(Krug Life Sciences, Inc. Houston, TX., United States)
James, John T.
(NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Seventh Annual Workshop on Space Operations Applications and Research (SOAR 1993), Volume 2
Subject Category
Man/System Technology And Life Support
Accession Number
94N33662
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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