NASA / JSC Building 7, 20-Foot Chamber Facility serves as the HESTIA Habitat. It has many unique capabilities unlike any other facility available to NASA to support Deep-Space Research.
- This Human-rated facility was used to support Gemini, Apollo, and SkyLab Programs. More recently, it was used to conduct 30-, 60-, and 90-day human ECLSS closed-loop testing in the 1990s to support the International Space Station (ISS) and life support technology development.
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Chamber geometry is consistent with habitability concepts for both translation and surface habitats (i.e., multi-storied cylindrical structure) driven by launch vehicle constraints.
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Chamber can operate at reduced pressure and elevated oxygen environments including those proposed for deep-space exploration by the Exploration Atmosphere Working Group (i.e., 8.2 psia & 34% O2).
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Facility resources are available to support a wide range of research activities including data acquisition / monitoring / control, power, fluids, pressure & atmospheric control, and other key resources.
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Man- and Transfer-Locks allows the transfer of personnel and / or material into / out of the chamber without affecting the internal environment. These are mandatory for long-duration human testing of closed-loop ECLSS and other hardware.
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External 2nd Floor platform allows flexibility for test and support hardware.
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Test operations follow stringent processes by a certified test team for both human and non-human testing.
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Project management, analysis, design, acquisition, fabrication, assembly and test certification services are available for facility build-ups to support HESTIA research.
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HESTIA offers close proximity to key stakeholders including astronauts, Human Research Program (HRP) [who direct space human research for the agency], Mission Operations, Safety & Mission Assurance, and the Engineering Directorate.