Evaluation of ANITA Air Monitoring on the International Space Station

ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) is a flight experiment precursor for a permanent continuous air quality monitoring system on the ISS (International Space Station). For the safety of the crew, ANITA can detect and quantify quasi-online and simultaneously 33 gas compounds in the air with ppm or sub-ppm detection limits. The autonomous measurement system is based on FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy). The system represents a versatile air quality monitor, allowing for the first time the detection and monitoring of trace gas dynamics, with high time resolution, in a spacecraft atmosphere. ANITA operated on the ISS from September 2007 to August 2008. This paper summarises the results of ANITA’s air analyses and compares results to other measurements acquired on ISS during the operational period. The main basis of comparison is NASA’s set of grab samples taken onboard the ISS and analysed on ground applying various GC-based (Gas Chromatography) and GC/MS (Mass Spectrometry) systems. Comparison with other real-time instruments aboard ISS included the Volatile Organic Analyzer (VOA), the Compound Specific Analyzer – Combustion Products (CSA-CP), the Carbon Dioxide Monitor (CDM), and the Major Constituent Analyzer (MCA).