Tucson: Paragon Space Development Completes Design Review on NASA Project

Tucson firm designs system to keep astronauts breathing

By Michelle Cohen

ARIZONA DAILY STAR 20100909

A Tucson-based company is working on a new system that will maintain air quality for astronauts on short-term space missions to and from destinations such as the International Space Station.

Paragon Space Development Corp. recently announced it has finished the preliminary design review of its Commercial Crew Transport-Air Revitalization Sys­tem, the third step in a five-part project under a Space Act Agree­ment in collaboration with NASA’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Office.

Paragon received $1.4 million in federal funding and will con­tribute a commensurate amount toward the system, said Taber MacCallum,the company’s CEO.

“It’s a highly integrated unit consisting of seven subsystems,” said Barry Finger, Paragon’s pro­gram manager for the system. “Primarily, it does seven essential things to make the cabin air breathable.”

Those seven things are: con­trols carbon dioxide; controls hu­midity; removes trace contami­nants produced by the crew like benzene and ammonia; uses a HEPA filter to keep air clean of dust particles because dust does­n’t settle in space; circulates cab­in air; cools cabin air; purifies the air if there is a fire.

“The uniqueness of the system is that it combines a number of functions necessary for short­duration missions and integrates it into one package,” said Donald Cotton, project executive of NASA’s Commercial Crew and Cargo Program for the Paragon system.

MacCallum said the system will be more reliable than previous sys­tems because it has fewer movable parts. “The fan moves,” he said. “That’s our one moving part.”

The next step will be to build a full-scale unit of the system, ex­pected to be completed in Octo­ber. The final step, an integrated test and final report, is expected in December.

A 15-person team primarily consisting of Paragon personnel in Tucson and Houston is manu­facturing the system, Finger said.

“NASA is giving us a large amount of expertise,” MacCallum said. “Some of the best life-sup­port experts are working with us.” Finger said aspects of the sys­tem could be used in military ve­hicles and aircraft. He also said the team is improving upon car­bon dioxide removal technologies utilized in mining and submarine rescue.

Paragon Space Development Corp. is considered a leader in de­signing and manufacturing spacecraft thermal-control and life-support systems.

Contact NASA Space Grant intern Michelle Cohen at 434-4083 or at mcohen@azstarnet.com




DOUGLAS WHEELOCK / NASA

Paragon Space Development Corp. is designing a new air-quality system for astronauts that can be used on short-term space missions such as trips to and from the International Space Station.