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60126.jpg=The air filtration systems that have resulted from research on the ISS don't even require filters like this!|52648.jpg=Right now, thousands of microorganisms are floating around you! Don't worry. Most of them don't harm you in any way!|15729.jpg=Some situations require you to be concerned about the microorganisms you breathe in. What if air purifiers just removed them? Photo by Stuck in Customs|44655.jpg=The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) manufactures air for the entire space station. Scientists couldn't live onboard without its clean air! Photo by NASA
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Industrial Improvements
 
Take a deep breath. Exhale. Repeat. Ready? Did you know that there are typically 2,000 or so different microorganisms floating around you? Don't worry. You don't inhale ALL of them. Plus, you exhale many of those you inhale. And it's not like all of the microorganisms are harmful to you. (Most of them are not.) Still, the thought of being in a sea of microorganisms constantly floating around you might make you wish you lived in a protective bubble of clean, filtered air! In many ways, the ISS is a protective bubble for the scientists on board. There are no doors or windows to let in outside air. The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) does indeed "control" the environment, particularly the air that the scientists breathe. Additionally, the ISS has an incredibly sophisticated air filter system. It is the ideal environment to explore the sea of microorganisms. Using its system of filters, scientists are researching airborne bacteria in particular and using the controlled environment to lead in the development of air filtration systems for us on Earth.
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To explore space and to live in space requires a steady supply of good air to breathe. Obviously, astronauts can't go very far or live very long in space without it! But there's even more to the importance of air quality. For really long journeys (distance and time), astronauts will need to grow food, and they will need greenhouses to grow it. So air quality is not just important for space travelers but also space plants!
In fact, the ISS has a greenhouse where scientists on board have grown a variety of plants — some edible, some not so much. Certainly a key focus of the greenhouse research is on growing plants in microgravity with limited water and limited soil. The experiments are yielding bumper crops worth of information that is sure to help future space travelers grow food with limited water and limited fertile soil. (That can also be a problem on Earth, so it's likely to help down here, too!) Yet it's the focus on air quality in the greenhouse that's also creating exciting results.
The ISS has to create its own air, right? The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) manufacturers air for the entire space station, so it can control many of the gases and microorganisms that get into the air. Did you know, though, that plants in the ISS greenhouse produce gases?
Plants everywhere produce the gas ethylene as their fruit ripens or their flowers age and decay. Ethylene actually speeds up the ripening or decaying process. It happens in the ISS greenhouse, too. So scientists have been particularly interested in figuring out ways to prevent plants from producing the odorless and colorless gas. The thinking is that if you can eliminate the ethylene, you can better preserve food.
The ECLSS creates an air-controlled environment that makes it easier for scientists to isolate and experiment with gases that come from the plants in the greenhouse. And that research has led to the development of a device that removes ethylene from the air! The ethylene "scrubber" draws air in through tubes that expose the air to ultraviolet (UV) light. The scrubber then creates a chemical reaction that converts the ethylene into tiny amounts of water and carbon dioxide. So not only does the scrubber take out ethylene but its byproducts (water and carbon dioxide) are good for plants! Scientists immediately recognized that there are many applications and benefits for a system on Earth that can scrub out ethylene.
Often, space technology like the ethylene scrubber develops into products with even more uses than originally imagined. The scrubber is no exception! So what started as an air purifier for extending the shelf life of fruits, vegetables, and flowers, turned into a device that destroys airborne microorganisms like bacteria, mold, fungi, viruses, and even those that cause odors. It does all that without producing harmful byproducts (such as ozone) in the way that many air-filtration systems do. The device doesn't even have any filters that need changing!
The air-purifying device is under the name AiroCide. Many supermarkets, food processing plants, and restaurants immediately started using it for food preservation. The manufactures quickly figured out that their device also removes microorganisms. Studies showed that the levels of airborne bacteria and mold dropped significantly within 24 hours of installing an AiroCide device.
It is those results that have people outside of the food industry excited about its ability to eliminate airborne microorganisms and improve air quality and human health. AiroCide devices have been installed in operating rooms and doctors' offices (including waiting areas) — places where many airborne microorganisms typically exist AND where they can do greater damage to people who are already sick.
Use of the devices is rapidly expanding, so we can worry less about those 2,000+ microorganisms that float around us every day, knowing that many of the harmful ones are being destroyed by a device developed for space. Who knew that plants in a greenhouse on the ISS would play such a cool and important role? Can you breathe easier now?
Heather, I don't think we should stay calm!
It's not just germs that are in the air that we have to worry about. Germs aren't that big a deal. I'm worried about the pollution in the air that's only getting worse and nobody seems to be doing anything about it. I did a big project at school and couldn't believe how dirty our air is. It's not just smog either. It's a lot of things that you can't even see. Like lead. And all these different oxides. It's something that we have to pay attention to and do something about and not "stay calm." It should be about keeping the pollution out of the air in the first place but I guess having better filters will definitely help. I change our water filter on our kitchen faucet and it gets really dirty. I like knowing that we're not drinking any of that so I like knowing that we could have some air filters that would do the same thing with air!
Marcus, Stay Calm People
You know how people on the airplane wearing those little masks that cover their mouth and nose so they don't have to breathe the air? It was probably my aunt. Every year we go on a big family trip and I'm always so embarrassed. She says that airplane air is recycled, so we're breathing everybody's breath. I think she's way too uptight about it all. Like this says, why don't you just live in a bubble your whole life! I hope that these filters make it to airplanes so maybe my aunt will stop embarrassing me!
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