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Active TRL 6 (started at 5, targeting 7)
The Medical Oxygen (MedOx) Project is in support of the Mars Campaign Office, part of the Life Support Systems portfolio. MedOx is supporting the needs for bridging the gap for medical exploration needs when it comes to oxygen needs for the crew during respiratory distress. The current state of the art is by means of oxygen tanks supplied for missions to the International Space Station (ISS). These tanks, although reliable for providing high purity oxygen, take up by mass and volume within storage of these tanks, along with adding additional pressure within the cabin if ever released. The MedOx project is solely focused on portable oxygen concentrators to provide both the flow rate and percentage of oxygen needed for a wide variety of respiratory prescriptions. Oxygen concentrators provide the means to maintain continuous flow rates, high purity of oxygen, and become a net zero process, which does not introduce new pressure variables into the habitable volume. Both laboratory testing and environmental testing that meet program level requirements are underway with devices that are prime candidates.
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