Mass and consumable loss analysis for the combined- cooling-power-oxygen system of an extravehicular-activity spacesuit

High density cold and electric energy sources are necessary for extravehicular-activity (EVA) spacesuit. A novel combined-cooling-power-oxygen (CCPO) system which provides cold source, electric power and oxygen for the EVA spacesuit is presented in this paper. Mathematical models are established to evaluate the mass valves of the subsystems and the components as well as the consumable losses of working fluids and materials. The system mass and consumable loss characteristics of CCPO system for lunar missions are numerically investigated using evaluating models above and compared with other two traditional cold, power and oxygen independent providing systems. In these calculations three typical lunar thermal environmental conditions have been considered, and the results shows that the total consumable losses of CCPO system for these cases are obviously less than that of the traditional approaches while the total mass of this new system remain at a acceptable level. This suggests that CCPO system may be a potential salutation for the environmental control and life support system of future EVA space suits.