Abstract
Following the successful European precursor mission ANITA1 (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) operating on ISS for 11 months in 2007 and 2008, the next generation system ANITA2 is in the design and breadboarding phase. The complementary ANITA1 information on ISS air conditions has shown the advantages of an optical sensor with high time resolution and the simultaneous detection and quantification of the most important trace gases in the ISS atmosphere. The data have delivered surprising results on the dynamics of the crewed cabin atmosphere. Events occurring during the system operation like e.g. Shuttle docking, leakage in the Russian cooling system, detection of an unknown gas, and variable activity levels for the crew, could be identified, analysed, and assigned to the different happenings.
The successor instrument ANITA2 is now in the development phase considering all lessons learned from the ANITA1 instrument. The new instrument design promises for a system with improvements in the sensitivity of at least one order of magnitude. The next mission is planned for three to five years of (automatic) operation on ISS, where the system relatively easily can be accommodated, since it consumes nothing but power. ANITA2 will be calibrated to detect and quantify simultaneously and quasi on-line 33 or more of the most important trace gases in the cabin atmosphere. The optimised instrument in combination with sophisticated analysis SW – based on advanced simulations and statistical regression techniques – will form a reliable and compact multi-gas air quality monitor.
ANITA2 is like ANITA1 suggested to be an ESA-NASA cooperative programme. ANITA2 further represents a precursor system for missions e.g. to Moon and Mars under the manned exploration programme. The following ANITA3 system will be a high performance, maintenance-free measurement unit approaching the size of a shoe box.
The paper will report on the newly started instrument and analysis software pre-developments giving an outlook into the future programmatics.
The work described is performed under contract of the European Space Agency ESA.
The successor instrument ANITA2 is now in the development phase considering all lessons learned from the ANITA1 instrument. The new instrument design promises for a system with improvements in the sensitivity of at least one order of magnitude. The next mission is planned for three to five years of (automatic) operation on ISS, where the system relatively easily can be accommodated, since it consumes nothing but power. ANITA2 will be calibrated to detect and quantify simultaneously and quasi on-line 33 or more of the most important trace gases in the cabin atmosphere. The optimised instrument in combination with sophisticated analysis SW – based on advanced simulations and statistical regression techniques – will form a reliable and compact multi-gas air quality monitor.
ANITA2 is like ANITA1 suggested to be an ESA-NASA cooperative programme. ANITA2 further represents a precursor system for missions e.g. to Moon and Mars under the manned exploration programme. The following ANITA3 system will be a high performance, maintenance-free measurement unit approaching the size of a shoe box.
The paper will report on the newly started instrument and analysis software pre-developments giving an outlook into the future programmatics.
The work described is performed under contract of the European Space Agency ESA.
