This session presents the latest developments and innovations of two-phase heat transport systems, modeling techniques, and on-orbit performances for space applications. It covers all variants of heat pipe technologies, capillary and mechanically pumped loops, and loop heat pipes.

This session covers the development and design of thermal control systems for satellites, payloads, and instruments.

The thermal testing session focuses on all aspects of thermal tests, test methods, test correlation, and test facilities. Tests for all kinds of spacecraft, instruments, equipment, and materials are of interest. Special attention is given to sharing lessons learned from thermal test and test analysis and correlation activities, and also to innovative test methods, set-ups, and approaches to testing and verification of the hardware and of the analysis.

This session focuses on the design, development and operations of ground-based facilities, flight hardware and experiments associated with integrated systems which incorporate biological, physical, and chemical processors for the production, management and regeneration of Life Support resources.

This session includes papers describing approaches to monitoring water and air in enclosed habitats, thermal control of habitats, chemical sensors and sensing devices for detection of chemical constituents in water and air, and systems and system concepts for environmental monitoring and control.

This session addresses thermal control on board the current Space Station and future long term, crewed (or crew-tended) orbiting habitats, platforms, or laboratories including their payloads and on-board experimental test prototypes. Topics range from system and component issues with the Space Station, Orbiting Infrastructures and Habitats thermal control systems to thermal aspects of payloads and experiments that utilize the Space Station or other Orbiting Infrastructures and Habitats as a science platform or as a test bed for future exploration applications including advanced thermal control solutions/techniques.

This session addresses thermal and environmental control engineering analysis and software. This may include novel user experiences with existing tools, new tool and utility developments, improvements in existing commercial tools, cross-discipline tool integration and data exchanges, as well as any other software or analysis related topics.

This session reports on applications and advances in modeling physiochemical and biochemical life support processes and tests, as well as in numerical modeling of fluid flow phenomena, cabin ventilation, and composition distributions in closed space habitats, such as the International Space Station, exploration spacecraft, the deep space and lunar and Mars habitats, and commercial crew spacecrafts.

This session reports on advanced life support system control topics, such as controller technology; control theory and application; autonomous control; integrated system control; control software; and modeling, simulation, and emulation for control development.

This session covers research, development, enhancement, and integration of physico-chemical technologies and systems associated with air revitalization systems. It addresses open and closed loop life support applications for space vehicles, habitats, and other crewed environments; recent findings and performance of on-orbit systems; cross-cutting applications; and approaches to reducing mission costs and improving overall mission logistics associated with air revitalization technologies.

This session covers physico-chemical water management technologies for space missions, including research, development, modeling, and integration into spacecraft and habitats. It highlights recent on-orbit and prototype results, explores cross-cutting applications, and discusses strategies to reduce costs and improve water system logistics through efficient, lightweight architectures and integrated life support solutions.

This session covers topics related to waste/trash management and logistics reduction. It includes research, development, modeling, and architecture analysis of physico-chemical technologies, systems, and capabilities; integration of systems in relevant space vehicles, habitats, and other elements; recent findings and performance of on-orbit and/or prototype systems; and cross-cutting applications of technologies. In addition, approaches to reducing mission costs and improving overall mission logistics strategies by leveraging waste/trash management and logistics reduction systems are also presented.

This session seeks papers that describe the design, operation, and performance of reliable and cost-efficient environmental control systems and subsystems for crew and cargo transport, space stations, deep space habitats, other space vehicles, and exploration spacecraft.

This session features papers that link human activities in space with human activities on earth. It includes innovative collaborations and networks among industry, academia, government, and the public to address global and local challenges on Earth and beyond. We invite papers in which educators and students, contractors, researchers, and other innovators present new approaches for linking students, vendors, and the general public to STEAM topics (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) and the human exploration of space.

This session seeks papers that address analyses, research, development, modeling, and operation of In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) technologies and systems. Examples include technologies utilizing resources, such as regolith, water, and carbon dioxide from local environments and trash/waste collection and processing that produce mission consumables, resources, propellants, metals, plastics, and chemicals.

This session covers topics related to space suit pressure garments. It includes advanced development work for the spectrum of missions including micro-gravity EVA operations in low-Earth orbit, cis-lunar space, and deep space Mars transit; long-duration surface campaigns; and launch/entry/abort pressure garments for multiple vehicles, as well as sustaining engineering and lessons learned on the ISS Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) space suit assembly (SSA).

This session includes topics describing aspects of EVA systems, technologies, and studies that envision the space suit, tools, and ancillary equipment as a system. Concepts and testing of advanced EVA systems are also included.

This session covers topics describing design studies and new technology development or significant expertise of portable life support systems (PLSS) and associated support hardware. This session will deal with emerging PLSS technology and concepts for commercial LEO, lunar, and Martian missions.

This session addresses extravehicular activity (EVA) and surface mobility operational activities and simulations along with dynamic flight suited phases on International Space Station (ISS), analog or field studies, and future human missions. This may also include, but is not limited to, lessons learned during preparation and operations, such as logistics, maintenance, training, and flight controlling.

This session addresses ECLS System issues and lessons learned from the International Space Station.

This session addresses the research, design, development and testing of human and non-human agent integration for space exploration applications. Specific topics could include wearable robotics, artificial intelligence agents, human-robotic teaming, and human-automation interaction and task allocation. Topics ranging from modeling approaches to experimental investigations to operational results are of interest. Relevant application domains include simulations, laboratory and analog field testing, and spaceflight experience.

This session focuses on results from flight and ground-based chemical and biological analyses of spacecraft water and air samples along with recent developments in emerging air and water monitoring technologies for spacecraft that will enable the future of exploration-class missions.

This session covers topics related to emerging, low technology readiness space suit pressure garments and related technologies. It includes investigative work to evaluate conceptual or technological feasibility of future space suit designs, systems, platforms and mission scenarios/operations.

This splinter session features select technical papers focusing on managing carbon dioxide within spacesuit pressure garments during EVA operations. The session shares recent advancements in CO₂ washout testing, test article development, and analytical methods conducted at NASA Johnson Space Center. Topics include approaches for validating washout performance, considerations for next-generation EVA suits, and lessons learned from integrated testing. 

This session emphasizes research technologies to support space biology, habitation, and life support system design. Life sciences related hardware developments, experiment designs, flight experiment results for crewed spaceflight, uncrewed systems such as free flying platforms and planetary spacecraft, and terrestrial analogs are of interest. Other specific topics of interest include the integration of defined cultures of algae and other micro-organisms -production, processing, refining, utilization and disposition of algal and microbial biomass including GMOs; novel algal and microbial products and applications; and engineering and control of bioprocess systems for space flight and long term planetary systems.

This session addresses all aspects of the systems engineering, analysis, and development of space life support. It includes identification of alternatives, modeling and simulation, trade studies, and optimization the mission scenario, management approach, systems architecture, technology selection, detailed design, integration, testing, and operations. The overall objective of systems engineering and analysis is to guide the creation of effective systems that meet the performance, risk, cost, and schedule objectives.

This session focuses on the application of architectural principles to the design of facilities beyond Earth (orbital, lunar, planetary, deep space and interplanetary), to provide supportive and comfortable living and working environments, mission risk management, and enjoyment of life, in full recognition of the technical challenges presented by the environment. Relevant topics include: Configurations and structures; Construction and robotics; Habitability design, including food and clothing; Human factors integration; Gravity regimes; Integration of life support systems within space habitats; Analogues, mockups, simulators, and field trials; Terrestrial applications to extreme environments and groundbased facilities; Education for space architects; Space Architecture as a discipline; Sustainability from space to Earth.

This session addresses major issues in space radiation and analysis, tools, and research that are being developed and applied to support the space exploration initiative to insure astronaut and avionics radiation protection and safety.

This session enables experts who manage sealed or semi-sealed environments such as submarine, spacecraft, and airliner air quality and mining sectors, to share new research findings on the control and management techniques of air pollutants. This session is open to papers on air quality standards, hazards associated with specific compounds, and monitoring / management of those compounds to protect the health of crew and passengers.

There are many potential destinations for human exploration beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO), each with specific mission requirements, capability needs, and other attributes that may be common or unique. This session addresses mission designs, technology needs, vehicle systems and analyses for sending humans to destinations beyond LE0 and into deep space. Discussions involving Gateway, cislunar space and lunar missions are of great interest, but other missions including Mars transit and Martian surface are also relevant. Potential subjects include mission requirements, concepts, integrated ground testing including humans-in-the-loop, test beds and analogs, technology development needs, technology requirements, challenges, gaps and candidate system designs. Special attention will be given to Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), habitability, mission architecture, concepts of operation, trade studies, unique environmental considerations and planetary protection.

This session covers all aspects of fire safety in closed environments, including prevention, ignition, detection, flame spread, and suppression. Relevant subjects for the session include material control for fire prevention; fire suppression; fire detection; fire signatures and toxicity; post-fire cleanup; risk assessment; material selection; fire related combustion research; lessons learned and design status of current systems; and life support and control system designs to enable fire detection and suppression. Applicable environments for these studies include EVA suits; past, present, and future space transportation vehicles; different gravitational levels; extra-terrestrial habitats; aircraft; ships; and submarines. Papers  can be theoretical, experimental or numerical research and development studies; standards development work ; or case studies.

This session focuses on environmental dust encountered on space missions from any source, both inside and outside vehicles and habitats and including dust from planetary and asteroid sources as well as dust generated by humans and their activities. Papers are solicited in the following areas: environmental impacts of dust (internal and external to vehicles), air quality considerations in habitable spaces, dust (planetary and internally-generated) characterization studies and experiments, active and passive mitigation strategies, control technologies (filtration and other cleaning techniques), the effects of dust on susceptible hardware (suits, tools and equipment), and engineering techniques to enhance dust-tolerance. Models and simulations covering the fate and transport of dust are also of interest, including CFD with discrete-phase dust in pressurized volumes and DEM for vacuum environments.

This session covers the design, testing and analysis for system reliability and maintainability. Relevant subjects include risk assessment, verification and validation, accelerated life testing and aging, environmental screening, acceptance testing, and qualification testing. Special attention is given to failure modes and mechanisms associated with electronic devices, mechanical assemblies, chemical processing, and life sciences; and the corresponding impacts on system level performance.

This session covers the practical application of computational modeling (deterministic and probabilistic) and other methods for the analysis of human health and performance risks, and countermeasure development. Discussion areas include the physiological, biomechanical, and behavioral responses to reduced gravity, radiation, spacecraft environment, planetary environment, extravehicular activity, crew dynamics, ergonomics, work-load, and countermeasure prescriptions (exercise and non-exercise).