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Astronaut Mass Balance for Long Duration MissionsHuman spaceflight logistics requirements are strongly driven by the daily living needs of the astronauts, including their biological functions. Oxygen, water and food are absolute requirements to sustain life and must be supplied at adequate rates. However, these rates can vary from day to day and from person to person. Beyond the body's immediate physical needs, water is also required for important health and hygiene functions within the spacecraft. Undesirable weight loss or gain aside, human waste product mass outputs will equal the inputs over time, resulting in an average astronaut mass balance. Best values, as well as range of variability for inputs and outputs are explored at both the individual physiological level and the spacecraft level. These values are important for design of life support and habitability systems as well as for mission planning of consumables. Current spacecraft life support systems are not fully closed loop, but the International Space Station (ISS) does recycle most of its air and water. The astronaut mass balances at the personal and vehicle level can have different impacts at different levels of system closure. Recommendations are made for a consistent set of values representing a realistic average astronaut mass balance over reasonable durations for exploration missions.
Document ID
20190027563
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Ewert, Michael K.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Stromgren, Chel
(Binera Rockville, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
July 21, 2019
Publication Date
July 7, 2019
Subject Category
Man/System Technology And Life Support
Report/Patent Number
ICES-2019-126
JSC-E-DAA-TN67810
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES 2019)
Location: Boston, MA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 7, 2019
End Date: July 11, 2019
Sponsors: International Conference On Environmental Systems, Inc.
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: 80LARC17C0003
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Technical Review
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