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Active TRL 3 (started at 2, targeting 6)
Early detection of a developing fire is crucial for crew safety. Current spacecraft smoke detectors are hindered by the broad variety of combustion particles emitted from a spacecraft fire, the unique transport dynamics of reduced gravity, the specific vehicle or habitat geometries, and nuisance false alarms caused by dust and other non-combustion particles. This project will develop a “smart” spacecraft smoke detection system with a lower nuisance alarm rate than the current state of the art smoke detectors, via a combination of aerosol and gaseous species measurements. By lowering the false alarm rate, the crew can dedicate more time to other mission critical activities and enable more Earth-independent operations.
The project will identify the suite of detectors and signal combinations needed that determines a fire while minimizing false nuisance alarm events. This requires targeted testing of a variety of materials representing the most likely fire scenarios. Furthermore, the project also includes the development of a computational fluid dynamics model to determine how the smoke plume concentration changes from the point of emission to the detector’s location.
The goal of this work is to provide a prototype of a new fire detection system for use in low and partial gravity environments. Smart smoke detection hardware and software could be infused into a future space flight vehicle, such as a Martian transit vehicle or a Lunar surface habitat. For long-duration missions, this system will enable more Earth-independent posture for crew by reducing operational churn due to nuisance alarms and maximizing crew time for the mission. There is a potential for this capability of this system to overlap with trace contaminant monitoring systems which could increase interoperability and reduce system mass and volume.
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