ISS astronauts will install a wireless leak detection system.
NASA is constantly on the lookout for useful technologies and inventions which could help them in their various endeavors. One such invention is a wireless leak detection system created by graduate students from the University of Maine, which will be sent to the International Space Station.
The prototype wireless leak detection system was extensively tested by NASA in a variety of situations in their inflatable lunar habitat as well as in the Wireless Sensing Laboratory located on the Orono campus. The device can improve the safety of the ISS crew as well as that of other astronauts in future missions and space activities.
The prototype was developed by electrical engineering graduate students Lonnie Laborite and Cassey Clark. They were also part of the safety tests conducted at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Their invention will be the first piece of hardware develop by researchers from the University of Maine, and which will get to function in space for an extensive amount of time. The wireless leak detection system consists of a monitoring tool which is able to detect leaks in the spacecraft to avoid loss of air or heat, which could pose serious safety concerns.
The graduate students’ project was funded by NASA grant consisting of $100,000 for a period of three years. The recipient was a University of Maine professor of electrical and computer engineering, Ali Abedi. The project was part of the Maine Space Grant Consortium started in 2014.
The wireless leak detection project was one of a total of five in the United States to receive funding from NASA, meant for the research and development of technology which could be used onboard the ISS. The project also received support from Vincent Caccese, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Maine.
The leak detection system will be delivered to the ISS through NASA’s upcoming resupply mission. It consists of three identical boxes which the astronauts will install on the ISS and they will begin collecting data for two intervals of around 30 hours. The compiled data will be delivered back to the UMaine researchers, and eventually, the hardware will be returned to Earth so that the researchers can study it, see how it hold up in space, and try to improve the next generation.
Image source: Wikimedia
Michael Turner
