INTELLIGENT PROCESSOR FOR SPACE STATION LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM

THIS PROJECT INVOLVES A NEW APPROACH TO THE PROCESSING OF AIR- AND WATER-QUALITY-MONITORING DATA ON BOARD THE SPACE STATION. FIRE DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION BY TYPE WILL ALSO BE ENHANCED. ATTRACTIVE FEATURES OF THE PROCESSOR WILL INCLUDE: PARALLEL PROCESSING FOR HIGH SPEED WITH MINIMUM WEIGHT, SPACE, AND COST; EASY ADAPTABILITY (WITHOUT RESORTING TO PROGRAMMING) TO CHANGES IN THE COMPLEMENT OF MONITORING DEVICES OR THE PRESENCE OF NEW CONTAMINANTS; ROBUSTNESS WITH RESPECT TO NOISE, COMPONENT FAILURE, OR MISSING DATA; AND THE ABILITY TO ACCEPT AND MERGE DATA OF DIFFERENT TYPES FOR IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS. THE INNOVATIVE DATA PROCESSOR WILL INCLUDE NEURAL-NETWORK TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY OF ITS ATTRACTIVE FEATURES. USING THE ARRAY OF GAS CHROMATOGRAPHS, MASS SPECTROMETERS, AND OTHER SAMPLING AND MEASURING DEVICES ON BOARD, THE PROCESSOR WILL ALLOW FOR RAPID DATA ANALYSIS, FAULT DIAGNOSIS, AND RESPONSE TO DANGEROUS SITUATIONS. THIS PROJECT INVOLVES A NEW APPROACH TO THE PROCESSING OF AIR- AND WATER-QUALITY-MONITORING DATA ON BOARD THE SPACE STATION. FIRE DETECTION AND CLASSIFICATION BY TYPE WILL ALSO BE ENHANCED. ATTRACTIVE FEATURES OF THE PROCESSOR WILL INCLUDE: PARALLEL PROCESSING FOR HIGH SPEED WITH MINIMUM WEIGHT, SPACE, AND COST; EASY ADAPTABILITY (WITHOUT RESORTING TO PROGRAMMING) TO CHANGES IN THE COMPLEMENT OF MONITORING DEVICES OR THE PRESENCE OF NEW CONTAMINANTS; ROBUSTNESS WITH RESPECT TO NOISE, COMPONENT FAILURE, OR MISSING DATA; AND THE ABILITY TO ACCEPT AND MERGE DATA OF DIFFERENT TYPES FOR IMPROVED DIAGNOSIS. THE INNOVATIVE DATA PROCESSOR WILL INCLUDE NEURAL-NETWORK TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MANY OF ITS ATTRACTIVE FEATURES. USING THE ARRAY OF GAS CHROMATOGRAPHS, MASS SPECTROMETERS, AND OTHER SAMPLING AND MEASURING DEVICES ON BOARD, THE PROCESSOR WILL ALLOW FOR RAPID DATA ANALYSIS, FAULT DIAGNOSIS, AND RESPONSE TO DANGEROUS SITUATIONS.