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International Space Station Acoustics - A Status ReportIt is important to control acoustic noise aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to provide a satisfactory environment for voice communications, crew productivity, alarm audibility, and restful sleep, and to minimize the risk for temporary and permanent hearing loss. Acoustic monitoring is an important part of the noise control process on ISS, providing critical data for trend analysis, noise exposure analysis, validation of acoustic analyses and predictions, and to provide strong evidence for ensuring crew health and safety, thus allowing Flight Certification. To this purpose, sound level meter (SLM) measurements and acoustic noise dosimetry are routinely performed. And since the primary noise sources on ISS include the environmental control and life support system (fans and airflow) and active thermal control system (pumps and water flow), acoustic monitoring will reveal changes in hardware noise emissions that may indicate system degradation or performance issues. This paper provides the current acoustic levels in the ISS modules and sleep stations and is an update to the status presented in 2011. Since this last status report, many payloads (science experiment hardware) have been added and a significant number of quiet ventilation fans have replaced noisier fans in the Russian Segment. Also, noise mitigation efforts are planned to reduce the noise levels of the T2 treadmill and levels in Node 3, in general. As a result, the acoustic levels on the ISS continue to improve.
Document ID
20150010438
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Allen, Christopher S.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
June 11, 2015
Publication Date
July 12, 2015
Subject Category
Spacecraft Design, Testing And Performance
Acoustics
Report/Patent Number
ICES-2015-286
JSC-CN-33622
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) 2015
Location: Bellevue, WA
Country: United States
Start Date: July 12, 2015
End Date: July 16, 2015
Sponsors: Texas Tech Univ., Paragon Space Development Corp., UTC Aerospace Systems
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.
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