It’s one for small step for man, one giant leap for New Zealand wool.
Auckland-based company Lanaco’s EcoStatic air filters were on board the Artemis II mission, NASA’s first crewed lunar flyby in 50 years.
The filters were also on board an unmanned flight in 2022.
They can be used during a fire on board – for example, from a laptop or phone battery.
A fire in a weightless environment can present some unique challenges because there was not only smoke and other toxic particles, but water droplets floating around as well.
Astronauts in these situations put on safety hoods that have breathing canisters, containing Lanaco’s filters.
Lanaco chief executive Nick Davenport said the wool-based material could give astronauts precious extra time, compared to synthetic alternatives.
“The hot particles would melt the plastic filter element and the smoke would clog it and that was compounded by the water vapour – you just imagine the sticky, gooey mess over that filter, which meant that they would have a breathing safe window on that filter of about 10 minutes.
“So when they [NASA] found out about us and EcoStatic and tried our filter and selected it, it expanded that operating window to about an hour,” he said.
Zero gravity is not an issue back on earth, but Davenport said the same material was also used in ventilation systems in homes.
“Whether it’s smoke from wildfires or just atmosphere pollution and dust, it’s perfect for that application.”
Lanaco filters may one day play a role in a moon landing.
Although that’s a few years away, Lanaco and its supplier were investigating filtering moon dust.
“This lunar dust is extremely fine and very, very abrasive and our filter media in that very low gravity environment is fantastic at cleaning the air and taking that lunar dust out.
“So if an astronaut is walking on the lunar surface and wants to re-enter the accommodation modules then that is an application where it can be used as well.”
The company was sought out by NASA in 2017 after it received sample of Lanaco filters.
They featured on an unmanned test flight of the Orion spacecraft in August 2022, beating international competition.