ISS emergency egress - a system for crewmember pathway indication

摘要

ISS Emergency Egress vehicles include the Soyuz, X-38 Crew Return Vehicle (from 2007), and the Shuttle (when attached). In an emergency evacuation of the station, multiple escape vehicles, each with limited crew capacity, would have to be used. Disorientation may leave a crewmember temporarily unaware of his/her location, and potentially result in confusion as to which direction to travel, particularly a visiting Shuttle crewmember, especially if there is a loss of ISS lighting, and/or vision is obscured due to smoke or decompression fog. We will present a concept based on phosphorescent placards to indicate multiple egress paths on ISS, along with related research and evaluation results demonstrating the efficacy and feasibility. This approach is flexible, adaptable, uses no power, is easily reconfigurable, lightweight, and has minimal impact on crew time and resources.