Life in orbit is significantly different from the earthly one. Weightlessness, isolation from the Earth and autonomy of the station leave their mark on the daily life of astronauts during the flight. Comfortable conditions, which are so natural on Earth that we do not even notice them, are provided on board the ISS by a number of complex systems, such as systems for ensuring the gas composition, water supply, sanitary and hygienic provision, nutrition and others. Performing the most familiar earthly affairs in orbit is a whole science. Cosmonauts study on-board systems in special courses and train in practical exercises to “pour juice”, “wash”, “cook soup” correctly. In quotation marks - because on the ISS you can’t just open the refrigerator, get a pack of juice and pour it into a glass or turn on the water for washing. All the subtleties of everyday life on the ISS are taught to cosmonauts by specialists from the Research Testing Department for the technical training of cosmonauts for flight and ground tests and the operation of life support systems for orbital manned complexes, maintenance, creation and testing of simulators for life support systems, examination, assessment of flight safety, development of methods and educational and methodical means of preparation.
The department is headed by Andrey Viktorovich Skripnikov, a graduate of the Tambov Aviation Engineering Institute named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky. In 2002, Andrei Viktorovich was hired by the Cosmonaut Training Center.
In the life support systems department, he first prepared the ISS crews for actions in the event of a fire and depressurization, and then taught cosmonauts how to work with the life support systems of the Soyuz transport spacecraft and the Sokol-KV2 spacesuit. Currently, Andrey Viktorovich is organizing and coordinating work in his department.
Is it easy for astronauts to breathe?
Creating an atmosphere suitable for breathing on board the ISS is the task of oxygen supply and atmosphere purification facilities. Their complex includes both sources of oxygen and systems for cleaning the atmosphere, which remove carbon dioxide, microimpurities, odorous substances, and disinfect the atmosphere.
Almost all life support systems used on the ISS have been tested and have proven themselves well during the operation of the Mir station.
« Electron » — an oxygen supply system built on the principle of electrochemical decomposition of water into oxygen and hydrogen. Twice a day it is necessary to monitor the state of the system and report it to Earth. Why?
Firstly, the system is connected with a vacuum: the hydrogen formed in the process of water decomposition is dumped overboard, which means that there is a possibility of depressurization of the station.
Secondly, there is alkali in the system, and in no case should it be allowed to come into contact with the skin or eyes.
Thirdly, hydrogen and oxygen together form an "explosive gas" in certain proportions, which can explode, and therefore it is especially important to monitor the stable state of the system.
Training stand of the Electron system
All ISS life support systems are duplicated in case of failures. The duplicating system for Electron issolid fuel oxygen generator (THC).
Cosmonaut life support instructor Dmitry Dedkov demonstrates the operation of a solid fuel oxygen generator
Oxygen in the generator is obtained from checkers, in which there is an oxygen-containing substance in solid form. Checkers are “set on fire” (of course, we are not talking about an open flame), and oxygen is released during combustion. The temperature inside the checker reaches +450˚С. One person needs about 600 liters of oxygen per day. Depending on the type of checker, during its combustion, from 420 to 600 liters of oxygen are released.
In addition, oxygen is delivered to the ISS cargo ships"Progress" in gaseous form under high pressure in balloons.
For normal life at the station, it is necessary not only to replenish the atmosphere with oxygen, but also to clean it from carbon dioxide. Exceeding the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is much more dangerous than reducing the amount of oxygen. The main means for cleaning the atmosphere from carbon dioxide issystem "Air". The principle of operation of this system is the adsorption (absorption) of carbon dioxide, followed by vacuum regeneration of the absorption cartridges.
Preparing the Air system for operation
Atmospheric purification unit from microimpurities (BMP) purifies the air from all kinds of harmful gaseous impurities in the atmosphere of the station. This is also a regeneration type system, only if the cleaning of the atmosphere and the regeneration of absorbing elements in the "Air" system occurs offline in cycles of 10, 20 or 30 minutes and in automatic mode from 10 to 50 minutes, then in the BMP the cartridges operate in the cleaning mode for 18 - 19 days with subsequent regeneration. The resource of its main functional elements - cartridges for cleaning the atmosphere- is 3 years, but for 10 years of operation of the system, the need to replace them has not arisen: gas analyzers show an excellent state of the atmosphere.
Training stand of the block of cleaning from microimpurities
In addition, duplicating systems support the normal composition of the atmosphere: disposable absorbing cartridges, filters for removing harmful impurities and smoke removal, as well as the Potok air disinfection device, which automatically turns on every day for 6 hours and disinfects the ISS atmosphere.
In the event of an emergency situation and problems in any of the systems, an alarm is triggered. Astronauts must detect, recognize an abnormal situation and find a way out of it. During ground training, astronauts need to work out all possible emergency situations, even if the probability of their occurrence on the ISS is very small.
Training class (stands "Air", "BMP", "Electron", "Flow")
To get out of an emergency situation, astronauts must understand not only the structure of the system, but also have a good understanding of the principle of its operation. In the classroom, in addition to knowledge of the station systems, the crew is taught special calculations, for example, to predict changes in the state of the atmosphere duringfailures in gas composition supply systems.
Training of cosmonauts to work with the means of ensuring the gas composition onThe ISS is led by Dmitry Kuzmich Dedkov, Leading Researcher of the Department. D. K. Dedkov is a radio engineer by education, a graduate of the Kyiv Higher Aviation Engineering Military School. After graduating from college, he was assigned to a separate test and training aviation regiment at the Cosmonaut Training Center, where he served as head of the laboratory for control and recording equipment. “We recorded the flight parameters of laboratory aircraft during weightlessness, all experimental scientific parameters, medical parameters of the operators participating in the experiments. Every time there was something new,” says the instructor.
D. K. Dedkov
In 1975, Dmitry Kuzmich moved to the research methodological department of the Center as a junior researcher. There he was engaged in research work and took part in practical experiments in the training of astronauts at flying laboratories. He has about two hundred "zero gravity" flights to his credit. At the same time, as part of the preparation of cosmonauts for extreme activities, Dedkov became interested in parachute jumps to work out methods for training cosmonauts during operations in extreme situations. During the passage of special parachute training, the astronaut, before opening the parachute, while in free fall, must perform logical tasks and report. Everything that the cosmonauts had to go through, Dmitry Kuzmich experienced firsthand. In addition, he was engaged in testing individual swimming facilities in the event of splashdown of the descent vehicle.
In 1987, D. K. Dedkov defended his Ph.D. thesis on the study of methods and models for the formation of plans.activities of the crew of the manned spacecraft. The aim of the work was to automate the preparation of a flight plan and a cyclogram of the crew's activities for training. In 1988, he became head of the laboratory in the department of life support systems. He took over this department in 1994 and remained in this position until his retirement in 1999. Now he continues to work in the coolant department as a leading researcher, conducts scientific and teaching activities, develops technical specifications for simulator stands and maintains them in working condition. D. K. Dedkov - Honored Tester space technology, instructor of parachute training (330 parachute jumps), honorary radio operator.
Next time we will talk about the nutrition of astronauts and« water procedures» in orbit.
Under the unusual conditions of extra-atmospheric flight, cosmonauts must be provided with all conditions for work and leisure. They need to eat, drink, breathe, rest, sleep at the right time. Such simple and ordinary questions for earthly existence in space develop into complex scientific and technical problems.
A person can do without food for quite a long time, without water - for several days. But without air, he can only live for a few minutes. Breathing is the most important function of the human body. How is it provided in space flight?
The free volume in spaceships is small. usually has about 9 cubic meters of air on board. And behind the walls of the ship there is an almost complete vacuum, the remnants of the atmosphere, the density of which is millions of times less than at the surface of the Earth.
9 cubic meters is all that astronauts have for breathing. But that's a lot. The only question is what will fill this volume, what will the astronauts breathe.
The atmosphere surrounding a person on Earth, in a dry state, contains by weight 78.09 percent nitrogen, 20.95 percent oxygen, 0.93 percent argon, 0.03 percent carbon dioxide. The amount of other gases in it is almost negligible.
Such gas mixture people and almost all living things on Earth are used to breathing. But the possibilities of the human body are wider. Of the total atmospheric pressure at sea level, oxygen accounts for approximately 160 millimeters. A person can breathe when the oxygen pressure drops to 98 millimeters of mercury, and only below that “oxygen starvation” occurs. But another option is also possible: when the oxygen content in the air is above the norm. The upper limit of the partial pressure of oxygen possible for a person is at the level of 425 millimeters of mercury. With a higher concentration of oxygen, oxygen poisoning occurs. So, the capabilities of the human body allow fluctuations in the oxygen content by about 4 times. In an even wider range, our body can tolerate fluctuations in atmospheric pressure: from 160 millimeters of mercury to several atmospheres.
Nitrogen and argon are the inert part of air. Only oxygen takes part in oxidative processes. Therefore, the thought arose: is it possible to replace nitrogen in a spacecraft with a lighter gas, say, helium. Cubic meter nitrogen weighs 1.25 kilograms, and helium - only 0.18 kilograms, that is, seven times less. For spacecraft, where every extra kilogram of weight is accounted for, this is by no means indifferent. Experiments have shown that a person can breathe normally in an oxygen-helium atmosphere. This has been tested by American divers during long underwater dives.
From a technical point of view, the single-gas atmosphere, consisting of pure oxygen, also attracts attention. American spacecraft use pure oxygen at a pressure of about 270 millimeters of mercury to breathe astronauts. In this case, it is simpler (and therefore easier) to obtain equipment for controlling pressure and maintaining the composition of the atmosphere. However, pure oxygen has its drawbacks: there is a threat of fire on the spacecraft; prolonged inhalation of pure oxygen causes unpleasant complications in the respiratory tract.
When creating an artificial environment in domestic spacecraft, the normal earth atmosphere. Specialists, primarily doctors, insisted that a corner of the native planet be created on board the spacecraft with conditions as close as possible to those that surround a person on Earth. All the technical benefits obtained by using a single gas atmosphere, oxygen-helium and others, were sacrificed for the sake of complete comfort for the astronauts. All parameters are very close to the norms of the atmosphere that we breathe on Earth. They show that the automation "holds" the parameters of the air in the cabin very "rigidly", stably. The astronauts seem to breathe the clean air of the Earth.
After the astronauts boarded the ship, after the sealing of its compartments, the composition of the atmosphere in the ship began to change. Two astronauts consume about 50 liters of oxygen per hour and emit 80-100 grams of water vapor, carbon dioxide, volatile metabolic products, etc. Then the air conditioning system comes into action, which brings the atmosphere "to standard", that is, maintains all its parameters at optimal level.
Atmospheric regeneration is based on efficient, proven physical and chemical processes. known chemical substances, which, when combined with water or carbon dioxide, are capable of releasing oxygen. These are superoxides of alkali metals - sodium, potassium, lithium. In order for these reactions to release 50 liters of oxygen - the hourly need of two astronauts - 26.4 grams of water are needed. And its release into the atmosphere by two cosmonauts, as we have already said, reaches 100 grams per hour.
Some of this water is used to produce oxygen, and some is stored in the air to maintain normal relative humidity (between 40 and 60 percent). Excess water must be captured by special absorbers.
The presence of dust, crumbs, debris in the air is unacceptable. Indeed, in zero gravity, all this does not fall to the floor, but floats freely in the atmosphere of the ship and can fall into Airways astronauts. To clean the air from mechanical impurities, there are special filters.
So, the regeneration of the atmosphere in the ship comes down to the fact that part of the air from the habitable compartments is constantly taken by the fan and passes through a number of air conditioning system devices. There, the air is purified, brought to normal chemical composition, humidity and temperature and returns to the astronauts' cabin again. Such air circulation goes on constantly, and its speed and efficiency of work are unremittingly controlled by appropriate automation.
For example, if the oxygen content in the atmosphere of the ship has increased excessively, then the control system will immediately notice this. She gives the appropriate commands to the executive bodies; the operating mode of the installation is changed so as to reduce the release of oxygen.
/ You don't need to kick me - this is "Mir". Just a good photo
Anthem of the 13th department.
We are not astronauts, we are not pilots,
Not engineers, not doctors.
And we are plumbers:
We drive water out of urine!
And not fakirs, brothers, like us,
But without boasting, we say:
The water cycle in nature is
Let's repeat in our system!
Our science is very precise.
You just let the thought move.
We will distill waste water
For casseroles and compote!
Having passed all the milky roads,
You won't lose weight at the same time.
With full self-sufficiency
Our space systems.
After all, even the cakes are excellent,
Lula kebab and kalachi
Ultimately, from the original
Material and urine!
Do not refuse, if possible,
When we ask in the morning
Fill the flask in total
At least one hundred grams each!
We must confess in a friendly way,
Benefits of being friends with us:
Indeed, without utilization
You can't live in this world!!!
Water is the basis of life. Certainly on our planet. On some Gamma Centauri, perhaps everything is different. With the onset of the era of space exploration, the importance of water for humans has only increased. A lot depends on H2O in space: from the operation of the space station itself to the production of oxygen. The first spacecraft did not have a closed "water supply" system. All water and other "consumables" were taken on board initially, from the Earth.
"Previous space missions - Mercury, Gemini, Apollo took with them all the necessary supplies of water and oxygen and dumped liquid and gaseous waste into space," explains Robert Bagdigian from.
To put it briefly: the life support systems of astronauts and astronauts were "open" - they relied on support from their home planet.
About iodine and the Apollo spacecraft, the role of toilets and options (UdSSR or USA) for waste disposal on early spacecraft, I will tell you another time.
In the photo: a portable life support system for the Apollo 15 crew, 1968.
Leaving the reptilian, I swam to the cabinet of sanitary products. Turning his back to the counter, he took out a soft corrugated hose, unbuttoned his trousers.
– Need for waste disposal?
God…
Of course, I didn't answer. He turned on the suction, and tried to forget about the curious look of the reptilian, drilling his back. I hate these petty domestic problems.
/"Stars are cold toys", S. Lukyanenko/
Back to water and O2.
Today, the ISS has a partially closed water regeneration system, and I will try to tell you about the details (as far as I figured it out myself).
Our Mir station was flooded when it was 15 years old. Now the two Russian modules that are part of the ISS are also 17 each. But no one is going to sink the ISS yet ...
The effectiveness of the use of regeneration systems is confirmed by the experience of many years of operation, for example, the MIR orbital station, on board of which such LSS subsystems have successfully functioned, such as:
"SRV-K" - system for regeneration of water from atmospheric moisture condensate,
"SRV-U" - a system for the regeneration of water from urine (urine),
"SPK-U" - a system for receiving and preserving urine (urine),
"Electron" - oxygen generation system based on water electrolysis process,
"Air" - carbon dioxide removal system,
"BMP" - a block for removing harmful microimpurities, etc.
Similar regeneration systems (with the exception of SRV-U) are currently successfully operating aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Where is water spent on the ISS ( best quality I still don't have a diagram, my apologies.
The composition of the life support system (SOZH) of the ISS includes a subsystem for ensuring the gas composition (SOGS). Composition: atmospheric pressure control and regulation means, pressure equalization equipment, equipment for depressurization and pressurization of PSF, gas analysis equipment, a system for removing harmful impurities from the infantry fighting vehicle, a system for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere "Air", means for cleaning the atmosphere. Integral part SOGS are means of oxygen supply, including solid fuel oxygen sources (TEC) and the Elektron-VM oxygen production system from water. During the initial launch, the SM had only 120 kg of air and two TGC solid fuel oxygen generators on board.
To deliver 30,000 liters of water aboard the MIR and ISS orbital station, it would be necessary to organize an additional 12 launches of the Progress transport spacecraft, the payload of which is 2.5 tons. If we take into account the fact that the Progresses are equipped with tanks for drinking water type "Rodnik" with a capacity of 420 liters, the number of additional launches of the transport ship "Progress" should have increased several times.
Calculation for the "Martian":
On the ISS, zeolite absorbers of the Vozdukh system capture carbon dioxide (CO2) and release it into the outboard space. The oxygen lost in the composition of CO2 is replenished due to the electrolysis of water (its decomposition into hydrogen and oxygen). This is done on the ISS by the Electron system, which consumes 1 kg of water per person per day. Hydrogen is currently being vented overboard, but in the future it will help turn CO2 into valuable water and emitted methane (CH4). And of course, just in case, there are oxygen bombs and cylinders on board.
[
center] 
Pictured: the oxygen generator and treadmill on the ISS, which failed in 2011.
Photo: Astronauts set up a system for degassing liquids for biological experiments in microgravity at the Destiny laboratory.
The bathroom on the space station looks like this:
In the service module of the ISS, the Vozdukh and BMP purification systems, the advanced SRV-K2M condensate water regeneration and Electron-VM oxygen generation systems, as well as the SPK-UM urine collection and preservation system, were introduced and are operating. The productivity of improved systems has been increased by more than 2 times (provides the life support of the crew of up to 6 people), and energy and mass costs have been reduced. Over a five-year period (data for 2006) of their operation, 6.8 tons of water and 2.8 tons of oxygen were regenerated, which made it possible to reduce the mass of cargo delivered to the station by more than 11 tons. The delay with the inclusion of the SRV-UM urine water regeneration system in the LSS complex did not allow the regeneration of 7 tons of water and reduce the delivery weight.
- Americans
Process water from the American apparatus is supplied to Russian system and the American OGS (Oxygen Generation System), where it is then "processed" into oxygen.
The process of recovering water from urine is a complex technical problem: “Urine is much “dirtier” than water vapour, explains Carraskillo, It can corrode metal parts and clog pipes.”. The ECLSS () system uses a process called vapor compression distillation to purify urine: the urine is boiled until the water from it turns into steam. The steam—naturally purified water in a vapor state (minus traces of ammonia and other gases)—rises into the distillation chamber, leaving a concentrated brown slurry of impurities and salts, which Carraskillo graciously calls "brine" (which is then thrown into outer space). The steam then cools and the water condenses. The resulting distillate is mixed with moisture condensed from the air and filtered to a drinkable state. The ECLSS system is able to recover 100% moisture from the air and 85% water from urine, which corresponds to a total efficiency of about 93%.
The above, however, refers to the operation of the system in terrestrial conditions. In space, an additional complication arises - the steam does not rise up: it is not able to rise into the distillation chamber. Therefore, in the ECLSS model for the ISS "...we rotate the distillation system to create artificial gravity to separate the vapor and brine", Carraskillo explains.
]Outlook:
There are known attempts to obtain synthetic carbohydrates from the waste products of astronauts for the conditions of space expeditions according to the scheme:
According to this scheme, waste products are burned to form carbon dioxide, from which methane () is formed as a result of hydrogenation. Methane can be transformed into formaldehyde, from which, as a result of the polycondensation reaction (), monosaccharide carbohydrates are formed.
However, the resulting monosaccharide carbohydrates were a mixture of racemates - tetrose, pentose, hexose, heptose, which did not have optical activity.
Note. I even dread to think about the possibility of digging into the "knowledge wiki" to understand the meaning of these terms.
Modern LSS, after their appropriate modernization, can be used as the basis for the creation of LSS necessary for the exploration of deep space. The LSS complex will make it possible to ensure the almost complete reproduction of water and oxygen at the station and can be the basis of the LSS complexes for the planned flights to Mars and the organization of a base on the Moon.
Much attention is paid to the creation of systems that provide the most complete circulation of substances. For this purpose, most likely, they will use the process of carbon dioxide hydrogenation according to the Sabatier reaction or , which will allow the oxygen and water cycle to be realized:
CO2 + 4H2 = CH4 + 2H2O
CO2 + 2H2 = C + 2H2O
In the case of an exobiological ban on the release of CH4 into the vacuum of outer space, methane can be transformed into formaldehyde and non-volatile monosaccharide carbohydrates by the following reactions:
CH4 + O2 = CH2O + H2O
polycondensation
nCH2O - ? (CH2O)n
Ca(OH)2
It should be noted that the sources of environmental pollution on orbital stations and for long interplanetary flights are:
- interior construction materials (polymeric synthetic materials, varnishes, paints);
- a person (during perspiration, transpiration, with intestinal gases, during sanitary and hygienic measures, medical examinations, etc.);
- working electronic equipment;
- links of life support systems (cessation device-ACS, kitchen, sauna, shower);
and much more.
Obviously, it will be necessary to create an automatic system for operational control and management of the quality of the habitat. Some ASOKUKSO?
Oh, it’s not for nothing that in Baumanka the specialty in LSS KA (E4. *) was called by students:
ASS
…which was deciphered as:
AND from outside O care P piloted BUT devices
Complete, so to speak, if you try to delve into.
The ending: maybe I didn’t take everything into account and mixed up facts and figures somewhere. Then supplement, correct and criticize.
An interesting publication prompted me to this “verbiage”: which my youngest child brought for discussion.
My son started putting together a “research gang” at school today to grow Peking lettuce in an old microwave oven. They probably decided to provide themselves with greenery when traveling to Mars. You will have to buy an old microwave at AVITO, because mine are still working. Do not break after all on purpose?
Note. on the picture, by no means my child and not a future victim of the experiment is not mine microwave.
As I promised [email protected], if something comes out - I'll throw off the pictures and the result on the GIK. I can send the grown salad by Russian post to those who wish, for a fee, of course.
Primary sources:
ACT SPEECH Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Yu.E. SINYAK (RAS) "LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR HABITATED SPACE OBJECTS (Past, present and future)" / Moscow October 2008. The main part of the text.
"Live Science" (http://livescience.ru) - Regeneration of water on the ISS.
JSC NIIhimmash (www.niichimmash.ru). Publications of employees of JSC NIIkhimmash.
Online store "Food astronauts"
Photos, videos and documents used:
www.geektimes.ru/post/235877 (Philip Terekhov@lozga)
www.gctc.ru
www.bezformata.ru
www.vesvks.ru
www.epizodsspace.no-ip.org
www.techcult.ru
www.membrana.ru
www.yaplakal.com
www.aviaru.rf
www.fotostrana.ru
www.wikipedia.org
www.fishki.net
www.spb.kp.ru
www.nasa.gov
www.heroicrelics.org
www.marshallcenter.org
www.prostislav1.livejournal.com/70287.html
www.liveinternet.ru/users/carminaboo/post124427371
www.files.polkrf.ru
Great Soviet Encyclopedia (www.bse.uaio.ru)
www.vokrugsveta.ru
What does it smell like in outer space?
It is impossible to smell in outer space, and several things interfere with this at once. First, the smell is created by molecules released by some odorous substance. But in space, there is emptiness, which means that there are no odorous substances, no molecules that create smell, there is simply nothing to smell. Secondly, all normal people will go out into outer space in a sealed spacesuit, which means that the human nose will not inhale anything “cosmic”. But on the space station where the astronauts live, there are plenty of smells.
What does the space station smell like?
When the astronauts enter the station and take off their spacesuit helmet, they smell a special smell. The smell is very strong and strange. It is said that it is similar to the smell of an old dried-up piece of roasted meat. However, this “aroma” still smells of hot metal and welding fumes. Astronauts are surprisingly unanimous in their use of "meat-metal" terms when describing the smell on the International Space Station. Sometimes, however, some add that it often smells of ozone and something sour, a little caustic.
Where does this smell come from on the ISS?
Imagine how the air supply is arranged at the station, and you will immediately find the answer to this question. On the ISS, you cannot open a window to ventilate the room and let in fresh air from outside: there is simply no air there. Breathing mixture is brought from Earth once every few months, so people at the station breathe the same air, which is cleaned with special filters. These filters are of course not perfect, so some odors remain.
Our cosmonauts compare the station with residential building, which can smell like anything. The “house” itself smells: the materials of the cladding and the details of the devices. People live in the “house”, therefore, in addition to these technical smells, the station also has earthly smells that are familiar to us: for example, the aroma of borscht or saltwort. When one of the astronauts is going to have lunch, he will not be able to do it alone. The rest will know about it, even being at the other end of the station. Odors in the station spread very quickly as the air is constantly agitated by the fan system. This is necessary so that a cloud of carbon dioxide exhaled by them does not accumulate around the astronauts. If the air is not stirred, the level of carbon dioxide around the astronaut will rise, and the person will feel worse and worse.
We all know that everyone perceives smells in their own way: some aromas, loved by some crew members, may cause rejection and allergies in others, so the list of products that you can take with you is strictly regulated. However, some people always resist even the most reasonable prohibitions, such as the American astronaut John Young, who in 1965 took a ham sandwich on board the ship. The crew members first appreciated the sharp irritating smell of ham, and then for a long time they collected odorous bread crumbs that scattered throughout the ship and miraculously did not damage the equipment. Astronauts are very well-mannered people, so no one knew what they were thinking while collecting these crumbs.
When you arrive at the station, in addition to technical and "edible" smells, you will also feel the pungent smell of human sweat and naturally exfoliating skin. The smell of sweat annoys us even in terrestrial conditions, and in space a person sweats even more. So, with serious loads, astronauts can lose about two kilograms of weight and, as you understand, sweat a lot. Add to this the fact that there is no shower on the ISS, and astronauts use wet wipes and towels to wash. In order not to add additional smells to the atmosphere of the station, special, low-odor hygiene products are provided on the ISS, and any perfume is strictly prohibited. You can read more about how astronauts wash themselves here.
Who is watching the "cosmic fragrance"?
Creating a comfortable atmosphere for astronauts is a task that is not inferior in its importance to the task of ensuring flight safety. Extraneous odors are extracted from the atmosphere with special absorbers, but it is impossible to completely get rid of the "aromas". Therefore, in preparing for the flight, the materials from which the interior of the spacecraft is built, and the things allowed on board are carefully selected. For example, NASA has a team of experts who jokingly call themselves "nosonauts" who "sniff" everything that will be present on board the ship: plastics, metals, change of underwear, scientific instruments, hygiene items, sneakers, and even a toy that the astronaut wanted take a flight at the request of a little son. To date, the human nose is the best instrument for imagining how things will smell in space. Scientists in many countries are working on the problem of creating devices that perceive odors. But so far, no device can compare with the sense of smell of a dog or (who would have thought) a wasp. But dogs, and even more so wasps, are taciturn creatures and therefore cannot tell us how this or that object smells. So the trained people have to do the smelling work. So, if you invent a way to capture smells well, then, perhaps, you will forever go down in history as a great inventor. Until then, things sent into space will be sniffed by people blindfolded. Eyes are tied so that the appearance of the object does not affect the perception of the smell of a person. Sometimes, due to the rush, smell tests are not carried out in time, and then all sorts of surprises await the crew on board the ship. For example, the astronauts had to return a bag with unchecked fasteners to the shuttle, as they smelled “like the fingers of a cook cutting onions.”
In Russia, the spacecraft atmosphere is studied at the Institute of Biomedical Problems. Even at the design stage of the spacecraft, experts check all non-metallic materials in sealed chambers for the presence of a pronounced smell. If there is such a smell, then the material is rejected. The main task of specialists is to ensure that there are as few odorous substances as possible at the station; everything that is taken into orbit is strictly selected according to the criterion of ensuring the purity of the air. Therefore, unfortunately, the crew members' own preferences regarding smells at the station are not taken into account. Astronauts say that they miss the smells of the earth most of all: the smell of rain, leaves, apples. However, sometimes strict specialists in orbital smells still give gifts to cosmonauts: tangerines and a sprig of spruce were put in the Soyuz spacecraft before the New Year, so that the station could feel the wonderful aroma of the holiday.
Water is life. This idea is thousands of years old, and it still has not lost its relevance. With the onset of the space age, the importance of water has only increased, since literally everything depends on water in space, from the operation of the space station itself to the production of oxygen. The first space flights did not have a closed "water supply" system. That is, all the water was taken on board initially, from the Earth. Today, the ISS has a partially closed water regeneration system, and in this article you will find out the details.
Where does the water on the ISS come from?
Water regeneration is the re-production of water. From here it is necessary to draw the most important conclusion that initially water is delivered to the ISS from the Earth. It is impossible to regenerate water if it is not initially delivered from Earth. The regeneration process itself reduces the cost of space travel and makes the ISS system less dependent on ground services.
Water delivered from the Earth is used on the ISS many times. Now the ISS uses several methods of water regeneration:
- Condensation of moisture from the air;
- Purification of used water;
- Urine and solid waste processing;
The ISS has special equipment that condenses moisture from the air. Moisture in the air is natural, it exists both in space and on Earth. In the process of life, astronauts can excrete up to 2.5 liters of fluid per day. In addition, the ISS has special filters to purify used water. But given that how astronauts wash, domestic water consumption is significantly different from the earth. Urine and solid waste recycling is a new development that has only been used on the ISS since 2010.
At the moment, the ISS requires about 9,000 liters of water per year to function. This is a total figure that reflects all expenses. Water on the ISS is regenerated by about 93%, so the volume of water supplies to the ISS is significantly lower. But do not forget that with each complete cycle of water use, its total volume decreases by 7%, which makes the ISS dependent on supplies from Earth.
Since May 29, 2009, the number of crew members has doubled - from 3 to 6 people. At the same time, water consumption also increased, but modern technologies allowed to increase the number of astronauts on the ISS.
Water regeneration in space
When it comes to space, it is important to consider energy costs, or as they are called in the professional field - mass costs, for the production of water. The first full-fledged water regeneration apparatus appeared at the Mir station, and for the entire time of its existence it made it possible to “save” 58,650 kg of cargo delivered from Earth. Remembering that the delivery of 1 kg of cargo costs about 5-6 thousand US dollars, the first full-fledged water regeneration system has reduced costs by about 300 million US dollars.
Modern Russian water regeneration systems - SRV-K2M and Electron-VM make it possible to provide astronauts on the ISS with water by 63%. Biochemical analysis showed that the regenerated water does not lose its original properties and is completely drinkable. At the moment, Russian scientists are working on creating a more closed system that will provide astronauts with 95% water. There are prospects for the development of cleaning systems that will provide a 100% closed cycle.
The American water recovery system - ECLSS was developed in 2008. It allows not only to collect moisture from the air, but also to regenerate water from urine and solid waste. In spite of serious problems and frequent breakdowns during the first two years of operation, today ECLSS recovers 100% moisture from the air and 85% moisture from urine and solid waste. As a result, a state-of-the-art apparatus appeared on the ISS, which allows recovering up to 93% of the original volume of water.
Water purification
The key to regeneration is water purification. Any water is collected in the purification systems - leftover from cooking, dirty water from washing, and even the sweat of astronauts. All this water is collected in a special distiller, visually similar to a barrel. When purifying water, it is necessary to create artificial gravity, for this the distiller rotates, while dirty water is driven through the filters. The result is pure drinking water, which in its qualities even surpasses drinking water in many parts of the world.
At the last stage, iodine is added to the water. This chemical preparation helps to prevent the reproduction of microbes and bacteria, and is also necessary element for the health of astronauts. It is a curious fact that on Earth iodized water is considered too expensive for mass use, and chlorine is used instead of iodine. The use of chlorine on the ISS was abandoned due to the aggressiveness of this element, and the greater benefit of iodine.
Water consumption in space
Colossal amounts of water are required to ensure the life of astronauts. If by our days they had not established a water regeneration system, then space research would surely be stuck in the past. Taking into account the water consumption in space, the following data are used per 1 person per day:
- 2.2 liters - drinking and cooking;
- 0.2 liters - hygiene;
- 0.3 liters - toilet flush;
The consumption of water for drinking and food is practically in line with earthly norms. Hygiene and toilets are much smaller, although they are all recyclable and reusable, but this requires energy costs, so costs have also been reduced. An interesting fact is that if a Russian cosmonaut has 2.7 liters of water per day, then about 3.6 liters are allocated for American astronauts. The American mission continues to receive water from the Earth, however, as well as Russian cosmonauts. But unlike the Russian mission, the Americans get water in small plastic bags, and our cosmonauts in 22 liter barrels.
Use of recycled water
The average person might assume that astronauts on the ISS drink water recycled from their own urine and solid waste. In fact, this is not the case; astronauts use pure spring water delivered from Earth for drinking and cooking. Water additionally passes through silver filters and is delivered to the ISS by Russian cargo spaceship"Progress".
Drinking water is supplied in 22 liter barrels. Water obtained by processing urine and solid waste is used for technical needs. For example, water is essential for the operation of catalysts and for the operation of the oxygen generation system. Relatively speaking, astronauts "breathe urine" and do not drink it.
At the beginning of 2010, information appeared in the media that due to a breakdown in the water regeneration system on the ISS, American astronauts were running out of drinking water. Vladimir Solovyov, flight director of the Russian segment of the ISS, told reporters that the ISS crew never drank water obtained by regeneration from urine. Therefore, the breakdown of the American urine processing system, which really existed at that time, did not affect the amount of drinking water. It is noteworthy that American system failed twice for the same reason, and only the second time it was possible to establish the true cause of the problem. It turned out that due to the influence of space conditions, calcium is greatly increased in the urine of astronauts. Urine processing filters developed on Earth were not designed for such a biochemical composition of urine, and therefore quickly fell into disrepair.
Production of oxygen from water
Soviet and then Russian scientists set the pace for the production of oxygen from water. And if in the issue of water regeneration, American colleagues have slightly surpassed Russian scientists, then in the issue of oxygen production, ours confidently hold the palm. Even today, 20-30% of the recycled water from the US sector of the ISS goes to Russian oxygen production units. The regeneration of water in space is closely related to the regeneration of oxygen.
The first devices for the production of oxygen from water were installed on the Salyut and Mir devices. The production process is as simple as possible - special devices condense moisture from the air, and then produce oxygen from this water by electrolysis. Electrolysis - passing current through water - is a well-established scheme that reliably provides astronauts with oxygen.
Today, another source of water has been added to the condensed moisture - processed urine and solid waste allowing to obtain technical water. Industrial water from the American ECLSS apparatus is supplied to the Russian system and the American OGS (Oxygen Generation System), where it is then "processed" into oxygen.
Scientists are struggling to solve the problem - a 100% closed cycle to fully provide astronauts with water and oxygen. One of the most promising developments is the production of water from carbon dioxide. This gas is a product of human respiration, and at the present time this "product" of astronauts' vital activity is practically not used.
The French chemist Paul Sabotier discovered the amazing effect by which water and methane can be obtained from the reaction of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The current process of producing oxygen on the ISS is associated with the release of hydrogen, but it is simply thrown into outer space, since it does not find a use for it. If scientists manage to establish an effective system for processing carbon dioxide, then it will be possible to achieve almost 100% closure of the system, and find effective application hydrogen.
The Bosch reaction is no less promising in terms of obtaining water and oxygen, but this reaction requires extremely high temperatures, so many experts see more prospects for the Sabotier process.
