2025

Investigations on the indoor air quality (IAQ) of spaceships are rare and were mainly performed on the ISS and MIR and are not known from habitats. However, the situation is expected to be comparable with that in stations. Layouts of habitats or spaceships designed for longer trips and stays must consider increased physiological and psychological stress for the inhabitants. Therefore, aspects like well-being will become increasingly important. Consequently, long-term investigations on emissions from materials and IAQ will be necessary in the future. For this reason, WKI performed experiments concerning IAQ as part of the AMADEE-24 mission.

More than 150 volatile organic compounds could be identified in the habitat’s atmosphere. For spacecrafts so called SMAC limits (Spacecraft maximum allowed concentrations) have been published by NASA. These limits depend on how long a person is staying in the vessel. Maximum detected formaldehyde concentrations were close to or in the range of the SMAC limits for stays of 30, 180 or 1000 days (0.12 mg/m³). Formaldehyde concentrations were also measured by continuous monitoring during the last 11 days of the mission. Within this time frame, most periods showed results below these limits, although formaldehyde was detected the whole time (Fig. 1).
Maximum concentration for benzene was 0.013 mg/m³ with a SMAC1000 limit of 0.04 mg/m³ and 2.4 mg/m³ with a SMAC180 limit of 8.9 mg/m³ for iso-pentane. Other concentrations were far below limits, if given.

shown for spacecrafts (SMAC), German indoor air guideline (D) and WHO guideline.
Considering guideline values for buildings or EU-LCI-values, most concentrations were far beyond limits. However, concentrations of some aromatic substances, 1,2-Propanediol, butyl glycol, butyl acetate and some odorous compounds were temporarily remarkable. Further, although with declining concentrations, TVOC (total volatile organic compounds) concentrations according to the German TVOC concept for indoor air were in the noticeable or critical range (Fig. 2 ).

Anyhow, this does not mean any health risks for the analog astronauts in the habitat. On the other hand, the fact has to taken into account that the habitat was not sealed but ventilated. This will be different in a real extra-terrestrial environment and shows the importance of correspondent investigations in the future when planning longer stays on Moon or Mars.

Source: Jan Gunschera1 and Sebastian Wientzek1, “First Results from The Experiments Of IAQ-Habitat During The AMADEE-24 Mission”, AMADEE-24 Science Workshop Booklet 2024
1 Fraunhofer WKI, Braunschweig, Germany
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