Project Description

A Human Landing System must robustly provide for the environmental and metabolic needs of the crew from the point of departure from Gateway, throughout the surface mission and until their return. Specifically, the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) must provide a breathable atmosphere, potable water, food and waste management, and consider the need for crew safety. The system must also handle metabolic outputs including CO2, respired and perspired humidity, urine, perspired solids, feces and metabolic heat. The undergraduate research assistant will develop an atmosphere revitalization model using V-HAB, an object-oriented Matlab code for virtual habitat modeling and simulation. V-HAB has been under development at the Technical University of Munich since 2006 and was recently released as open-source code. The MATLAB®-based code dynamically simulates life support systems and their subsystems, as well as their interactions with a modelled crew metabolism. Research results will be prepared for conference or journal publication.   

Special Requirements

  • Coursework – ASEN 2001, 2002, 2012, 3113 (in progress or complete) or equivalent courses in computational methods, thermodynamics and heat transfer.
  • Experience with Matlab software and programming a must.

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