These are other kinds of systems that GUNNS fluid networks have been developed to model:

• Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) suits (space suits):
  • These are basically self-contained space vehicles because they have most of same systems you find on a big spaceship, just scaled down.
  • It has its own ECLSS, TCS & Prop built into the suit; most of the equipment is in the backpack.
  • To fully model EVAS, you end up with a lot of the same kinds of fluid GUNNS networks as a full-blown vehicle.
  • A less complicated version is a pressurized flight-suit like what an astronaut wears inside the vehicle during ascent/entry. The big difference is the ECLSS/TCS is not on the suit, but in the vehicle, and the suit hooks up to it with umbilicals.

• Power Generation (Fuel Cells):
  • Solid-Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC) and Proton Exchange Membrance (PEM) fuel cells have been modeled.
  • It’s basically the reverse process of electrolysis typically modeled in ECLSS.
  • Fluid networks model the storage and transport of fuel (usually hydrogen) and oxidizer (oxygen) to the fuel cell, the redox reaction going on inside (which is coupled to an electrical aspect), and transport of gasses (including water vapor byproduct) out to a vent or to a water condenser.

• Plasma Contactor Unit (PCU):
  • This is a unique thing onboard the ISS, where xenon gas is slowly leaked out into the space around the ISS to absorb electrons and reduce static charge buildup around the solar arrays. This is a safety precaution to reduce the risk of electrostatic discharge into an astronaut on EVA.
  • We’ve modeled the xenon tank and plumbing to flow out into space.

• Vehicle Landing Bags:
  • We have modeled the inflation & deflation of exterior bags that are used cushion the landing of a certain vehicle.
  • This involves high-pressure gas tanks, plumbing & valves into bags with dynamic interaction between pressure and volume.

• Nukes on Mars:
  • GUNNS has been used to model the sodium-potassium liquid metal coolant loops in a theoretical Mars surface nuclear fission reactor.
  • It’s a specialized variant of the same things that ATCS loops do.

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