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August 26, 2020

North Haven company secures NASA award for spacesuit tech

PHOTO | Pixabay.com
By Michelle Tuccitto Sullo

An area company has secured a six month contract with NASA to help keep the air inside spacesuits healthier for astronauts.

Precision Combustion Inc., of 410 Sackett Point Rd., North Haven, announced it has won a NASA SBIR Phase I award to develop “Exploration Spacesuit Trace Contaminant Control Technology.”

The contract is for $124,850, according to Tony Anderson, director of marketing and business development for PCI.

The astronauts themselves generate contaminants through metabolic processes, such as carbon dioxide or methane. Spacesuit materials can produce potentially harmful gases. All of these contaminants have to be removed from the ventilation loop of a spacesuit, the company indicated.

According to Anderson, the company will be developing and evaluating materials for the removal of chemicals from the air. PCI’s sorbent nanomaterials will be used to remove contaminants such as ammonia, formaldehyde and methyl mercaptan.

“It is for the astronauts’ health (to remove these contaminants),” Anderson said.

The goal is to improve spacesuit technology and therefore increase mission capability and duration. 

PCI President Kevin Burns said, “We need regenerable spacesuit life support systems to allow longer and more effective crew missions and further advance our ability to live in space and on the moon and planets.”

PCI’s technology aims to limit the amount of trace contaminants that threaten to exceed maximum levels allowed in a seven day period. It can also help simplify operations and reduce power consumption, according to the company.

Christian Junaedi, the project’s principal investigator with PCI, said PCI’s sorbent nanomaterial technology could provide a solution for “a broad range of trace contaminants.” 

In the first phase, the company will identify and synthesize vacuum-regenerable sorbents that can meet performance requirements for contaminant removal, according to Junaedi. In the second phase, the company plans to develop a prototype ready for testing and future use.

The technology could have broader benefits, including improving air quality in various industries at home. According to Anderson, more efficient air cleaning could be scaled up for spacecraft, space stations, and for keeping buildings here on Earth contaminant-free.

Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.

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