Nanoengineered Hybrid Gas Sensors for Spacesuit Monitoring

Extravehicular Mobility Units (EVU) are the necessary to perform elaborate, dynamic tasks in the biologically harsh conditions of space and they have stringent requirements on physical and chemical nature of the equipment/components/processes, to ensure safety and health of the individual require proper functioning of its life-support systems. Monitoring the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) of the EVU in real time ensures the safety of the astronaut and success of the mission. In Phase I, N5 Sensors has demonstrated and manufactured an ultra-small form factor, highly reliable, rugged, low-power sensor architecture for carbon dioxide (CO2) and ammonia (NH3) that is ideally suited for monitoring trace chemicals in spacesuite environment in presence of humidity and oxygen. N5 will perform additional design refinements in Phase II and implement on-chip components for enhanced analytical and operational reliability. Additionally, a complete detector system will be designed, integrated with various electronic components and tested to determine system level performance and reliability. Subsequent design refinements will be done.

The proposed single-chip multi-analyte sensors are ideally suited for environmental monitoring and fire protection for space craft autonomy (E-nose, lick and stick integrated monitor), in-flight monitoring system of the trace chemical constituents, which is essential for crew health, safety, and systems operation as well as cell-all program to enhance the performance of the system using a large array of sensors. These sensors are low-power, rugged, and radiation-hard, making them ideally suited for integrated spacecraft monitoring networks.

Such ultra-small chemical sensors can be used for mobile devices based multianalyte detectors for industrial monitoring of trace gases (CO2, NH3, etc.), and also for smartphone based environmental pollution exposure monitors for asthma patients. They can be integrated with on-demand ventilation control systems for measuring indoor air quality in buildings.

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