“Advanced life support tech” awarded $2mn by NASA

NASA will invest $2million for tech development that will allow astronauts to breathe longer in deep space explorations.

Two companies that will develop the latest technology have been chosen to be given the funds for the projects, with the goal of supporting space explorers reach longer distances and yet remain safe during extended missions.

The futuristic projects point at advancing the oxygen recovery technology that allows carbon dioxide being converted back into oxygen, in order to help astronauts breathe for longer and have larger oxygen reserves during their deep space explorations.

“The development of advanced life support technologies will allow NASA to establish improved capabilities for future deep space, long-duration, human exploration missions,” explained Steve Jurczyk from NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.

The two proposals have been selected based on the advances the projects bring on the best oxygen recovery technologies currently available, as at the moment, on the International Space Station (ISS) only 50 per cent of the exhaled carbon dioxide can be reused and transformed into more oxygen for the astronauts. The progresses in this field might help NASA transport fewer oxygen reserves from earth, this way saving funds that could be invested in other projects of the agency.

With astronauts continuously traveling further and further into space and the missions have lately become longer, NASA aims to supply astronauts with its investment up to 75 per cent of the oxygen converted from the exhaled carbon dioxide in order for the project to be considered successful.

The two awarded companies are Honeywell Aerospace and UMPQUA Research Co.