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Application of a Modified Gas Chromatograph to Analyze Space Experiment Combustion Gases on Space Shuttle Mission STS-94A space experiment designed to study the behavior of combustion without the gravitational effects of buoyancy was launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia on July 1, 1997. The space experiment, designated as Combustion Module-1 (CM-1), was one of several manifested on the Microgravity Sciences Laboratory - 1 (MSL-1) mission. The launch, designated STS-94, had the Spacelab Module as the payload, in which the MSL-1 experiments were conducted by the Shuttle crewmembers. CM-1 was designed to accommodate two different combustion experiments during MSL-1. One experiment, the Structure of Flame Balls at Low Lewis-number experiment (SOFBALL), required gas chromatography analysis to verify the composition of the known, premixed gases prior to combustion, and to determine the remaining reactant and the products resulting from the combustion process in microgravity. A commercial, off-the-shelf, dual-channel micro gas chromatograph was procured and modified to interface with the CM-1 Fluids Supply Package and the CM-1 Combustion Chamber, to accommodate two different carrier gases, each flowing through its own independent column module, to withstand the launch environment of the Space Shuttle, to accept Spacelab electrical power, and to meet the Spacelab flight requirements for electromagnetic interference (EMI) and offgassing. The GC data was down linked to the Marshall Space Flight Center for near-real time analysis, and stored on-orbit for post-flight analysis. The gas chromatograph operated successfully during the entire SOFBALL experiment and collected 309 runs. Because of the constraints imposed upon the gas chromatograph by the CM-1 hardware, system and operations, it was unable to measure the gases to the required accuracy. Future improvements to the system for a re-flight of the SOFBALL experiment are expected to enable the gas chromatograph to meet all the requirements.
Document ID
19980211133
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Coho, William K. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
Weiland, Karen J. (NASA Lewis Research Center Cleveland, OH United States)
VanZandt, David M. (Aerospace Design and Fabrication, Inc. Brook Park, OH United States)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
May 1, 1998
Subject Category
Instrumentation And Photography
Report/Patent Number
E-11094
NASA/TM-1998-206965
NAS 1.15:206965
Funding Number(s)
PROJECT: RTOP 963-10-0B
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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