Gary Johnson talks about suit and habitation module atmospheres and explains the required criteria.
From the 25th Annual International Mars Society Convention, held at Arizona State University from October 20-23, 2022. The four-day International Mars Society Convention, held every year since 1998, brings together leading scientists, engineers, aerospace industry representatives, government policymakers and journalists to talk about the latest scientific discoveries, technological advances and political-economic developments that could help pave the way for a human mission to the planet Mars.
Gary Johnson is a retired aviation and aerospace consultant, author, teacher, and open innovation product developer. With a wide range of expertise and experience, Gary has a PhD in general engineering, a PhD, MS, and BS in aerospace engineering.
“Now here’s the problem: you’ve got some competing requirements with the atmosphere you need to breathe in some kind of a space habitat or spaceship, and you’ve also got to be able to go outside in an oxygen suit and do stuff outside, EVA stuff” states Johnson. His emphasis is on using a time, energy, mobility, and oxygen-efficient space suit, whether for use on a ship or on the surface of a planet. Gary talks about hypoxia, which is low levels of oxygen in the human body tissues that causes difficulty breathing, bluish skin, rapid heart rate, and confusion. Short term hypoxia is one of two worrisome issues with low-pressure atmospheres; on the other hand, long term hypoxia is more threatening and can be more common since astronauts tend to be indoors most of the time. “So I’ve got fire danger criteria, I’ve got a pre-breathe criteria, I’ve got a short-term hypoxia criteria based on oxygen mask data, and I’ve got that study of high-altitude peoples for the long-term hypoxia (2500 meter criteria)” as Gary points out regarding atmospheric environment precautions.
Conference Papers and some presentations will be available on www.MarsPapers.org
For more information on the Mars Society, visit our website at www.MarsSociety.org
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