NASA Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports

20040121111 Florida International Univ., Miami, FL, USA
Development of an Integrated Human Factors Toolkit
Resnick, Marc L.; 2003 Research Reports: NASA/ASEE Fellowship Program; December 15, 2003, pp. S-1 - S-10; In English;
See also 20040121096; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A02, Hardcopy
An effective integration of human abilities and limitations is crucial to the success of all NASA missions. The Integrated
Human Factors Toolkit facilitates this integration by assisting system designers and analysts to select the human factors tools
that are most appropriate for the needs of each project. The HF Toolkit contains information about a broad variety of human
factors tools addressing human requirements in the physical, information processing and human reliability domains. Analysis
of each tool includes consideration of the most appropriate design stage, the amount of expertise in human factors that is
required, the amount of experience with the tool and the target job tasks that are needed, and other factors that are critical for
successful use of the tool. The benefits of the Toolkit include improved safety, reliability and effectiveness of NASA systems
throughout the agency. This report outlines the initial stages of development for the Integrated Human Factors Toolkit.
Author
Human Factors Engineering; Decision Support Systems; Expert Systems
20040121112 University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
Treatment of Spacecraft Wastewater Using a Hollow Fiber Membrane Biofilm Redox Control Reactor
Smith, Daniel P.; 2003 Research Reports: NASA/ASEE Fellowship Program; December 15, 2003, pp. T-1 - T-11; In English;
See also 20040121096; No Copyright; Avail: CASI; A03, Hardcopy
The purpose of this project was to develop and evaluate design concepts for biological treatment reactors for the
purification of spacecraft wastewater prior to reverse osmosis treatment. The motivating factor is that wastewater recovery
represents the greatest single potential reduction in the resupply requirements for crewed space missions. Spacecraft
wastewater composition was estimated from the characteristics of the three major component streams: urine/flush water,
hygiene water, and atmospheric condensate. The key characteristics of composite spacecraft wastewater are a theoretical
oxygen demand of 4519 mg/L, of which 65% is nitrogenous oxygen demand, in a volume of 11.5 liter/crew-day. The organic
carbon to nitrogen ratio of composite wastewater is 0.86. Urine represents 93% of nitrogen and 49% of the organic carbon
in the composite wastestream. Various bioreaction scenarios were evaluated to project stoichiometric oxygen demands and the
ability of wastewater carbon to support denitrification. Ammonia nitrification to the nitrite oxidation state reduced the oxygen
requirement and enabled wastewater carbon to provide nearly complete denitrification. A conceptual bioreactor design was
established using hollow fiber membranes for bubbleless oxygen transfer in a gravity-free environment, in close spatial
juxtaposition to a second interspaced hollow fiber array for supplying molecular hydrogen. Highly versatile redox control and
an enhanced ability to engineer syntrophic associations are stated advantages. A prototype reactor was constructed using a
microporous hollow fiber membrane module for aeration. Maintaining inlet gas pressure within 0.25 psi of the external water
pressure resulted in bubble free operation with no water ingress into hollow fiber lumens. Recommendations include the
design and operational testing of hollow fiber bioreactors using: 1) Partial nitrification/nitrite predenitrification; 2) Limited
aeration for simultaneous nitrification/denitrification or for nitrite reduction/ammonia oxidation; 3) Hydrogenotrophic
denitrification.
Author
Water Treatment; Waste Water; Oxidation-Reduction Reactions; Bioreactors; Denitrogenation
55
EXOBIOLOGY
Includes astrobiology; planetary biology; and extraterrestrial life. For the biological effects of aerospace environments on humans see
52 Aerospace Medicine; on animals and plants see 51 Life Sciences. For psychological and behavioral effects of aerospace
environments see 53 Behavioral Sciences.
20040111420 NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA
Astrobiology of Comets
Hoover, Richard B.; Pikuta, Elena V.; Proceedings: Instruments, Methods, and Missions for Astrobiology VIII; [2004]; Volume
5555; 1 pp.; In English; Inernational Society for Optical Science and Technology 49th Annual Meeting, 2-6 Aug. 2004,
Denver, CO, USA; Original contains black and white illustrations; No Copyright; Avail: Other Sources; Abstract Only
We model the thermal history of a cometary body, regarded as an assemblage of boulders, dust, ices and organics, as it
approaches a perihelion distance of - IAU. The transfer of incident energy h m sunlight into the interior leads to the melting
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