Various space agencies are currently considering the moon and asteroids as way stations for astronauts bound for Mars. Under JAXA’s long-term vision, JAXA2025, the agency will by 2015 finalize its development plans for the next period of manned space activity. To establish supporting technologies, JAXA is researching systems that will be indispensable for manned space activities beyond low earth orbit, including water and air recycling. Three types of assemblies are necessary for recycling air: a carbon dioxide separator to remove exhaled carbon dioxide from a spacecraft’s atmosphere, a carbon dioxide reduction assembly to produce water from the separated carbon dioxide and added hydrogen, and water electrolysis equipment for oxygen production. This paper describes a carbon dioxide removal assembly and a water electrolysis assembly designed for operation in microgravity.
Interpolation of lateral chromatic aberration and/or Hopkins algorithm of sinc-function are adopted to reduce the numerical error of white light OTF, where lateral chromatic aberration is present.
A new measuring method of 2-D birefringence distribution has been developed. It has not been an easy job to get a birefringence distribution in an optical element with conventional ellipsometry because of its lack of scanning means. Finding an analogy between the rotating analyzer method in ellipsometry and the phase-shifting method in recently developed digital interferometry, we have applied the phase-shifting algorithm to ellipsometry, and have developed a new method that makes the measurement of 2-D birefringence distribution easy and possible. The system contains few moving parts, assuring reliability, and measures a large area of a sample at one time, making the measuring time very short.
Laser Direct Imager(LDI) that is capable of writing Print Wired Board(PWB) and Plasma Display Panel(PDP) patterns directly on work boards has been developed. Conventionally, PWB and PDP are manufactured by (1) making a photo mask of the original data pattern in a computer with a laser photo plotter and (2) copying the photo mask pattern onto a work board or panel by usually utilizing a UV exposure method. LDI, however, writes the patterns directly from the original data in the computer onto the work board or panel, thus revolutionizing the manufacturing process especially by eliminating the photo mask. In this paper, several key features of LDI are described.
To further advance manned space exploration, a critical issue that must be addressed is recycling of resources, especially air revitalization and water reclamation. Japan is already a leader in terrestrial environmental technologies, and aims to apply this know-how to develop air and water recycling technologies for space applications. To support proposed post-ISS missions such as manned lunar or asteroid exploration and an Earth-Moon Lagrange point (EML1) space station, JAXA is developing an air revitalization system for an on-orbit demonstration on the International Space Station (ISS) early in the extended ISS operation period (2015–2020). The requirements for this technical demonstrator have been investigated and its specifications established. Regenerative life support functions include oxygen recovery from carbon dioxide using a combination of CO2 reduction by a Sabatier process and O2 generation by electrolysis. Each air and water re-vitalization subsystem is planned to be transported to the ISS separately by successive H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) launches in the sequence Water Reclamation → Water Electrolysis → CO2 Reduction. This paper presents the air re-vitalization system developed by JAXA, and gives details of water electrolysis in microgravity.
for future manned space missions such as water purification, CO2 reduction and oxygen generation 4,5) . JAXA is currently studying an air revitalization system for an on-orbit demonstration on the International Space Station (ISS) early in the extended ISS operation period (2015–2020) to support proposed post-ISS missions such as manned lunar or asteroid exploration and an Earth-Moon Lagrange point (EML1) space station. The air and water revitalization subsystems of this demonstrator will be transported to the ISS separately by HII Transfer Vehicle (HTV). Regenerative functions include oxygen recovery from carbon dioxide using a combination of CO2 reduction by the Sabatier process and O2 generation by electrolysis. Water electrolysis is a key technology because the hydrogen it produces is used for CO2 reduction and the oxygen is essential for human respiration. A simple method for obtaining dry oxygen from electrolysis is also important. This paper presents the air revitalization system for the demonstrator and gives details of water electrolysis in microgravity. In this paper, we investigate SPE (solid polymer electrolyte) water electrolysis and discuss the ‘Cathode Feed’ operation of an electrolyzer. Although water is usually supplied to the anode side of ground-based electrolysis cells (anode feed), we adopt cathode feed to obtain dry oxygen. The performance of the cathode feed cell can achieve its design target by flushing the gas bubbles that adhere to the electrodes.
A high-speed, high-precision laser plotter, the Super Laser Photo Plotter (S-LPP) has been developed. S-LPP has a flat table so that both photographic plates and films can be used, and it is capable of writing fine patterns for print circuit boards (PCBs), lead frames for IC, etc., over the area of 640 mm X 819 mm with a minimum line width of 10 micrometers in 60 min. It has achieved more than fifty-times faster speed than that of a conventional plotter which has almost the same specifications as S-LPP. Several important optical techniques that have given S-LPP its own features are described.
Nomenclature ECLS = Environment Control and Life Support ECLSS = Environment Control and Life Support System DFT = Density Functional Theory FT-IR = Fourier Transform-Infra Red GC/MS = Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometry GN2 = Gaseous Nitrogen GO2 = Gaseous Oxygen ISS = International Space Station LN2 = Liquid Nitrogen LO2 = Liquid Oxygen JECLSS-WG = JAXA ECLSS Working Group JAXA = Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency MOS = Metal Oxide Semiconductor TDLAS = Tunable Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy THz-TDS = Terahertz Time Domain Spectroscopy TGM = Trace Gas Monitor TRL = Technology Readiness Level
