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SpaceX Dragon Air Circulation SystemThe Dragon capsule is a reusable vehicle being developed by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) that will provide commercial cargo transportation to the International Space Station (ISS). Dragon is designed to be a habitable module while it is berthed to ISS. As such, the Dragon Environmental Control System (ECS) consists of pressure control and pressure equalization, air sampling, fire detection, illumination, and an air circulation system. The air circulation system prevents pockets of stagnant air in Dragon that can be hazardous to the ISS crew. In addition, through the inter-module duct, the air circulation system provides fresh air from ISS into Dragon. To utilize the maximum volume of Dragon for cargo packaging, the Dragon ECS air circulation system is designed around cargo rack optimization. At the same time, the air circulation system is designed to meet the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) inter-module and intra-module ventilation requirements and acoustic requirements. A flight like configuration of the Dragon capsule including the air circulation system was recently assembled for testing to assess the design for inter-module and intra-module ventilation and acoustics. The testing included the Dragon capsule, and flight configuration in the pressure section with cargo racks, lockers, all of the air circulation components, and acoustic treatment. The air circulation test was also used to verify the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of the Dragon capsule. The CFD model included the same Dragon internal geometry that was assembled for the test. This paper will describe the Dragon air circulation system design which has been verified by testing the system and with CFD analysis.
Document ID
20110014250
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Hernandez, Brenda (Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Hawthorne, CA, United States)
Piatrovich, Siarhei (Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Hawthorne, CA, United States)
Prina, Mauro (Space Exploration Technologies Corp. Hawthorne, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2011
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-24079
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA International Environmental Control Systems
Location: Portland, OR
Country: United States
Start Date: July 17, 2011
End Date: July 21, 2011
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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