infinite may be a emptiness , but at least aboard the International Space Station , smells still have wad of elbow room to waft . And considering the ISS has 6 livelihood , respiration , excreting human beings living in such close proximity , some of those smells could get to be a major problem . luckily , NASA ’s accounted for that .
NASA railroad engineer Robert Frost and former ISS cosmonaut Clayton Anderson explain how NASA takes upkeep of astronaut ’ more malodorous byproducts .
From Robert Frost , NASA Instructor / Engineer in the Mission Operation Directorate :
odor can leave from equipment off - gassing , crew metabolic operation , food , experiment , and hark back EVA crew members . Two - hundred and sixteen such contaminants have been name and design for .
In the atomic number 62 ( Service Module ) , the Micropurification Unit ( БМП ) provides a regenerable agency to remove both crushed and high-pitched molecular weight contaminants .
Work with Micropurification Unit ( BMP ) on#ISSsee bloghttp://t.co/Y8WV0dhp8ipic.twitter.com/koRkCK7wXH
— Oleg Artemyev ( @OlegMKS)July 15 , 2014
In the Lab , the Trace Contaminant Control Subassembly ( TCCS ) performs a standardized role .
Both of these units are nominally operating . Either one is capable of providing the trace contaminant removal for the full ISS . The БМП vent contaminants overboard while the TCCS traps them in replaceable bottom .
Major components of the TCCS let in an activated charcoal bed , a catalytic oxidizing agent assembly , a lithium hydroxide sorbent bed , a fan , and a stream meter . Although the TCCS remove most atmospheric contaminants with the charcoal gray bottom , the eminent temperature catalytic oxidiser is require for removal of lower molecular weight chemical compound , such as methane .
TCCS inlet air is draw directly from the open cabin standard pressure into the activated charcoal bottom by the TCCS fan , which is downstream of the wood coal bed . The charcoal bed is impregnated with phosphoric Elvis , which enables it to imbibe ammonium hydroxide . Downstream of the sports fan , the process air is dissever into two flow streams ; one going to the Catalytic Oxidizer Assembly , and one to a bypass line . The flowing rate to the Catalytic Oxidizer Assembly , measured by a period meter , is used to control the swiftness of the buff to ply a specified rate of flow to the oxidizer . The stay menstruum is sent through the ring road .
A regenerative heat money changer and a ohmic resistance heater are used to heat the melodic line recruit the oxidizer to approximately 400 ° C. The accelerator oxidizes the organic compounds to CO2 and water , and commute the inorganic compounds to acidic gases such as hydrogen chloride , hydrogen fluoride , and sulfur dioxide . Air leaving the catalyst bottom is chill in the regenerative warmth exchanger and is circulated through the LiOH sorbent layer . This layer move out any Zen by - products create during the oxidation process . The air snuff it the sorbent bottom compound with the unrefined bypass gentle wind and rejoin directly to the ducts .
From Clayton C. Anderson , Retired ISS Astronaut for NASA :
As a two - meter space aviator with over 167 days in space ( all but 8 on the International Space Station ( ISS ) ) , I have definite personal knowledge of the odors existing inside her anodized aluminum hull .
The systems mentioned by Robert typically perform cleanly , with the crew do workaday alimony on those systems per the docket render by the ground . This , in and of itself , give us a importantly “ odor - free ” surroundings on the ISS . That ’s not to say we are without smells however . Our standard atmosphere , composed of the very same share of constituent gases that we have here on earth , is regulated to 14.7 psi and gives us a shirt - sleeved environment maintain about 72 degrees F , 55 % humidity , with a little snap out of the Confederacy !
Oleg Kotov , my Expedition 15 Russian crewmate and our Soyuz Commander , liked to stash his used exercising dress above the advancing facing FGB ( Functional Cargo Block , Russian Module ) hatch . This was not my preferred choice for the stowage of sweaty physical exercise gear wheel as there was not a very good chance that they would dry out effectively .
I prefer to put my foul shorts / socks / tetraiodothyronine - shirt onto a banister in the US segment ’s Node 1 module . This bannister was near an A / C vent , meaning wise , frigid air would be adrift across my sweaty washing for many hour until I assume them — dry as a bone — the next day . decrease their power to bring forth any “ locker - way ” odors , that particular placement also leave for our environmental systems to easily soak up my sweat and move around it into drinking water system for after !
Food scent were also present , but they did n’t seem unusually whelm to me .
run through a Pisces the Fishes dish often produced the most pungent odour , especially the US version of seafood gumbo . It might take a couple of hours to “ purge ” that smell from the airflow of the ISS . On bird commission , many air force officer outlawed the feeding of seafood Hibiscus esculentus due to its classifiable — and disliked — smell .
And do n’t vex too much about the reek from the toilets . The flow of air system there ( especially the US section … not so much for the Russian side ) were very good the shuttle had the absolute best system for comprise poop olfactory sensation ) , pulling the stink quickly and altogether into the bowels ( from one set to another ) of the ISS where they were absorbed expeditiously by filter .
Finally , there is the “ olfactory perception of space . ” Oft remark by cosmonaut , the smell of space is somewhat difficult to trace . Ever clear-cut — I would jazz it at once if I smelled it — it has been likened to smell tie in with welding or burning of ozone ( now who the heckreally knows what that smells like ? ! ) . Most detectable accompany a spacewalk , when work party and their equipment returned to the inside of the ISS , I remember being able to smell traces of this unequaled scent for several daytime following an jaunt into the unforgiving vacuum of space .
Top paradigm via NASA
How does NASA manage odor inside International Space Station(ISS)?originally appear onQuora . you could follow Quora onTwitter , Facebook , andGoogle+ .
This answer has been lightly blue-pencil for grammar and lucidness .
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