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Active TRL 4 (started at 2, targeting 9)
The Mars Campaign Office (MCO) Life Support Systems project Environmental Monitoring (EM) systems task objectives are to develop and demonstrate onboard monitoring, detection, and analysis capabilities that will replace the state-of-the-art (SOA) need to frequently return water samples to Earth for ground-based laboratory analysis. This effort is addressing these challenges by adopting new analytical technologies and techniques that will allow for a modular EM system architecture that integrates multiple sensing modalities to address the monitoring needs of future deep-space exploration missions.
Spacecraft Water Impurities Monitor (SWIM): The development of an in-flight water quality monitor for organic and inorganic impurities to protect crew health and vehicle hardware.
•Provides in-flight identification and quantification of a wide range of organic and inorganic species of concern to the toxicology, Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), and Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) communities.
•Allows for near real-time sample analysis, providing on-demand data to mission managers. Knowledge of contaminant amounts and identities has a twofold impact:
•Enables cognizant, risk-based decision making with respect to go/no-go for water use (e.g. crew consumption, space suit loading).
•Allows for sensible diagnosis of off-nominal ECLSS performance.
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