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| Electronic Nose (E-NOSE) |
| In-Cabin |
| E-Nose weighs just over 3 pounds. |
| Prime: Curtis Brown |  |
Principal Investigator: Dr. Margaret A. Ryan of JPL is the principal investigator for E-Nose. Dr. Margie L. Homer of JPL and Dr. John T. James of JSC are co-investigators. |
| Backup: Steven Lindsey | |
| Overview |
| E-Nose is a new, miniature environmental monitoring instrument that detects and identifies a wide range of organic and inorganic molecules down to the parts-per-million level. The objective on STS-95 is to flight-test E-Nose and assess its ability to monitor changes in Discovery's middeck atmosphere. The monitoring device uses an array of thin-film polymer sensors interspersed with carbon. The chemical sensors change resistance when exposed to vapors, but no one sensor is dedicated to identifying any specific vapor. Since gases and gas mixtures are identified by the electrical response pattern of the entire array, E-Nose has a unique ability to monitor and identify a wide variety of odors. For this flight, ten toxic compounds are targeted for identification. In addition to the sensor array, the E-Nose flight equipment includes an alcohol wipe kit, a customized display and control palm-top for crew interface, and a valve assembly for collecting "grab" samples. Once Discovery is in orbit, no sooner than 2.5 hours after launch, a crew member will unstow E-Nose from its middeck locker and set it up in a location with good return air flow and no stagnation, e.g., near the air revitalization system intake. Each day, preferably for 8 consecutive days, a crew member will collect ambient cabin air in a grab-sample container, wipe the detector instrument with alcohol to record a marker, and enter the event on a mission elapsed time log sheet, establishing a measurement baseline every 3 hours. E-Nose data will be stored internally for postflight analysis. |
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| History/Background |
| In the close confines of a spacecraft, the air that crew members breathe is filtered and recycled throughout the mission. Since the air supply is limited and very difficult to replace, the buildup of atmospheric contaminants is a concern to crew health. Such contaminants have been found in the shuttle crew cabin air. The accumulation of these potentially harmful gases poses a more serious threat during long missions aboard a space station or en route to distant bodies in the solar system. In addressing these concerns, spacecraft designers must also deal with the usual size and weight restrictions placed on all spacecraft components. The challenge of maintaining air quality must be met with small, lightweight efficient systems. Hence the development by Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of a miniature air quality monitoring system, called the Electronic Nose because it operates in a manner similar to the human olfactory sense in detecting air changes. |
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| Benefits |
| Early detection of contaminants aboard spacecraft is vital to crew health. The problems with current air quality monitoring equipment may be solved by the extremely compact and unobtrusive design of E-Nose, which can detect, identify, and quantify a wide range of air constituents. This comprehensive measurement of spacecraft air quality by a miniature, distributed device also has potential application for environmental monitoring and control on Earth. |
Editorial Contact Ed Campion
Technical Contact USA Web Master
