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Widow · (This post was last modified: 09-28-2020, 04:17 AM by Widow.)

2: CONSTRUCTION

Chesterfield Station is constructed of aluminum alloy plate with integral stiffening stringers and internal framing welded together to create a pressure tight station. Redundant pressure window panes are provided in numerous locations around the station. The station supports all equipment, inertial measurement units, displays and controls, trackers, and crew accommodations for sleeping, waste management, seats, and galley. An additional bar, spa pool, and sauna has been added for staff entertainment.

The thermal protection system (TPS) consists of various materials applied externally to the outer structural skin of the station to maintain the skin within acceptable temperatures. The stations outer structural skin is constructed primarily of aluminum and graphite epoxy. The TPS also sustains the forces induced by deflections of the stations air frame as it responds to the various external environments. Because the TPS is installed on the outside of the stations skin, it establishes the aerodynamics over the station in addition to acting as the heat sink. The stations interior temperatures also are controlled by internal insulation, heaters, and purging techniques in the various phases of the mission. The TPS is a passive system consisting of materials selected for stability at high temperatures and weight efficiency. These materials are as follows:

Reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC)
Black high-temperature reusable surface insulation (HRSI) tiles
Black tiles called fibrous refractory composite insulation (FRCI)
Low-temperature reusable surface insulation (LRSI)
advanced flexible reusable surfaceinsulation (AFRSI)
thermal panes

The Life support systems have been designed to maintain a comfortable environment for the crew-members. It now maintains a fully controlled cabin atmosphere and living environment. Additionally, it is robustly designed to sustain critical functions for returning the crew safely home after a failure or catastrophic event, such as a toxic contamination or fire event or a breach in the pressurized cabin vessel. Deep Space Engineering's Air Revitalization System (ARS) is responsible for providing adequate ventilation for the crew, maintaining carbon dioxide, humidity, and trace contaminant concentrations at comfortable and safe levels, and maintaining the temperature at the desired crew selected set-point. It includes two different types of fan packages, each redundant, that are optimized over a range of operating points.

Multiple heat exchanges remove heat from the air and transfer it to the Thermal Control System (TCS). A regenerative system continuously removes carbon dioxide and humidity, while a high efficiency particulate filtration system removes dust, fungi, and microbes from the air. Air monitoring ensures critical gases are within safe parameters and a suite of emergency equipment protects against fire and toxic contamination vents. The system accommodates for both low (sleep) and highly active (exercise) periods for the full crew compliment. As such, many of these components are already sized to handle the crew as-is or may be minimally duplicated to accommodate the extended volume and mission requirements. The Stations TCS consists of both an active coolant network and passive heaters and insulation to protect the internal thermal environment from the extreme external temperatures and to collect and reject heat from internal components. The TCS is sized for a high heat load capacity and utilizes both radiators and a regenerative Phase Change Material (PCM) heat exchange to accommodate peaks of high thermal loads without relying on the use of expendable consumables. By leveraging the stations capabilities and initially minimizing the internal components, the TCS can be simplified to primarily passive thermal control while scarring for an active coolant network.

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