Feature
System Taken to Costa Rica
A research and development team from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) recently used a new hazardous gas detection system to study volcanic emissions in Costa Rica. The new prototype system named the Aircraft-based Volcanic Emission Mass Spectrometer (AVEMS) also will have a direct application to the Space Shuttle Program.
The AVEMS is a step toward an advanced system that will be able to detect toxic gas leaks and emissions in the Space Shuttle aft engine compartment and the crew compartment, providing an added level of protection for the astronauts and the vehicle.
"For Shuttle applications it was especially helpful that we had the opportunity to fly the system at altitudes of up to about 40,000 feet," said Dr. Richard Arkin, ASRC Aerospace Corp.'s lead designer.
The new prototype system is named AVEMS (the Aircraft-based Volcanic Emission Mass Spectrometer). A mass spectrometer is a device that determines the presence and concentration of various chemicals.
Arkin, NASA Project Lead Dr. Tim Griffin, and two other members of the KSC team recently used AVEMS to analyze gases vented from the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica.
The tests were made over several weeks both from the air and in the volcano's crater. The study was the first to sample and quantitatively analyze fresh volcanic gases in their natural chemical state.
Active vents in volcanoes, called fumaroles, produce toxic gases including sulfur
dioxide and hydrogen sulfide. They also produce carbon dioxide, which while harmless in small amounts, can kill when too concentrated."Hikers on the volcanoes sometimes get cold then are attracted to the warm vents," Griffin explained." But when a large vent is producing massive amounts of carbon dioxide, the carbon dioxide displaces oxygen. When they breathe it, they don't get oxygen and they die."
Costa Rican leaders would like to see continuous monitoring of volcanoes both to warn citizens of hazards and to potentially help predict volcanic activity. But that's just the beginning of potential uses of the system, Griffin said.
The system also shows promise for commercial applications in a variety of environments and industries.
Applications include the semiconductor, petrochemical, automotive, refrigeration and cathode ray tube industries. The technology could be used for breath and blood analysis as well as for monitoring air quality in the workplace.
"Mass spectrometer technology could be used to ensure public safety and equipment protection in so many areas. Previous mass spec systems have been so expensive and bulky that their use was limited to laboratories," Griffin said.
The new system is both small and mobile. In addition it has the ability to easily and accurately produce in-depth data.
When the system becomes mass manufactured, it is expected to sell for less than $20,000 rather than the $150,000 commonly charged for an off-the-shelf laboratory mass spectrometer. Labor costs to run the machine will also be reduced. "Because of the system's custom software, it operates with little need for assistance by technicians," Arkin said.
The Costa Rican project was part of the CARTA (Costa Rican Airborne Research and Technology Application) mission and was funded through the National Science Foundation.
CRUSA (Costa Rica USA), a consortium of Costa Rican universities and government agencies, partnered on the project.
The inspiration for international cooperation that gave rise to the study came from a discussion between NASA astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz and University of Costa Rico professor Dr. Jorge Andres Diaz. Diaz had previously served as a visiting scientist at KSC.
"The CARTA mission and the use of the AVEMS instrument has been of extreme importance to Costa Rica," Diaz said. "Not only because is the first NASA-Costa Rica joint scientific collaboration, but because the results collected during the air campaign will be use by many national and international institutions and will have an immediate impact in decision making policies for our country that potentially would save lives."
Johnson Space Center provided the WB-57F aircraft and support through its Ellington Field group for the nine research flights in the hazardous gas study. Several pretests of the system were made in Houston.Ames Research Center provided infrared and visible photography as well as multispectral imaging on the CARTA mission.
Griffin and Arkin's research and development group, part of KSC's Spaceport Engineering and Technology Directorate, also developed the Shuttle's Hazardous Gas Detection System at KSC. That system, which came on line in 2002, is ground support equipment used on the mobile launcher platforms to detect hydrogen and oxygen leaks on and around the Shuttle.