The flight demonstration unit of the next-generation 4-bed CO2 Scrubber (4BCO2) is targeted for launch aboard NG16 NET August 1, 2021. Once aboard the space station, this u nit will be mounted in a basic express rack. This four-bed technology is a mainstay for metabolic CO2 removal and crew life support. The new 4-Bed Carbon Dioxide Scrubber, developed, built, and tested at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is checked out by Kathi Lange, a Bastion Technologies contractor supporting the quality assurance group in Marshall’s Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, prior to its shipment to NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia.

jsc2023e054751 (9/27/2023) --- JEM Demonstration of CO2 Removal System (JEM DRCS) is operated in the ISS "Kibo," where astronauts are constantly working under microgravity. The photo was taken by JAXA on the ground. Image Credit: JAXA.

STS098-346-0032 (7-20 February 2001) --- Cosmonaut Sergei K. Krikalev, Expedition One flight engineer representing the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, carries the Vozdukh in the Unity node. Vozdukh is designed to maintain the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the cabin air within the medically permissible range for long-duration exposure. It provides the primary means of removing CO2 from the outpost's atmosphere, and its operation is based on the use of regenerated adsorbers of CO2.

iss059e035608 (4/25/2019) --- Photo documentation of the Thermal Amine scrubber system installation in Destiny module onboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Thermal Amine System tests a method to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from air aboard the ISS, using actively heated and cooled amine beds.

iss059e035660 (4/25/2019) --- NASA astronaut Anne McClain is photographed in the Destiny module onboard the International Space Station (ISS) during the installation of the Thermal Amine Scrubber. The Thermal Amine Scrubber tests a method to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from air aboard the International Space Station, using actively heated and cooled amine beds.

This graphic depicts paths by which carbon has been exchanged between Martian interior, surface rocks, polar caps, waters and atmosphere, and also depicts a mechanism by which carbon is lost from the atmosphere with a strong effect on isotope ratio. Carbon dioxide (CO2) to generate the Martian atmosphere originated in the planet's mantle and has been released directly through volcanoes or trapped in rocks crystallized from magmas and released later. Once in the atmosphere, the CO2 can exchange with the polar caps, passing from gas to ice and back to gas again. The CO2 can also dissolve into waters, which can then precipitate out solid carbonates, either in lakes at the surface or in shallow aquifers. Carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere is continually lost to space at a rate controlled in part by the sun's activity. One loss mechanism is called ultraviolet photodissociation. It occurs when ultraviolet radiation (indicated on the graphic as "hv") encounters a CO2 molecule, breaking the bonds to first form carbon monoxide (CO) molecules and then carbon (C) atoms. The ratio of carbon isotopes remaining in the atmosphere is affected as these carbon atoms are lost to space, because the lighter carbon-12 (12C) isotope is more easily removed than the heavier carbon-13 (13C) isotope. This fractionation, the preferential loss of carbon-12 to space, leaves a fingerprint: enrichment of the heavy carbon-13 isotope, measured in the atmosphere of Mars today. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA20163

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Just before dawn on Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a crane is attached to the tent covering NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, the Taurus XL upper stack and the umbilical tower. The tent will be removed to allow OCO to be raised. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch aboard Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers remove the umbilical tower attached to Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket. Atop the rocket is NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo credit: NASA/Richard Nielsen, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers remove the umbilical tower attached to Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket. Atop the rocket is NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo credit: NASA/Richard Nielsen, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers remove the umbilical tower attached to Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket. Atop the rocket is NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo credit: NASA/Richard Nielsen, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, workers remove the scaffolding surrounding Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket. Atop the rocket is NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo credit: NASA/Richard Nielsen, VAFB

S70-35013 (15 April 1970) --- Prototype of the "mail box" constructed at the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) to remove carbon dioxide from the Apollo 13 Command Module (CM) is displayed in the Mission Control Center (MCC). The "mail box" was constructed when it became apparent CO2 was prevalent in the CM and the spacecraft's lithium hydroxide system was not removing it sufficiently. A space suit exhaust hose is connected to a lithium hydroxide canister to purge the cabin air. There are 16 such canisters in the CM and each will last approximately 12 hours. Looking at the "mail box" are (from the left): Milton L. Windler, shift 1 flight director; Dr. Donald K. (Deke) Slayton, director of flight crew operations, MSC; Howard W. Tindall, deputy director, flight operations, MSC; Sigurd A. Sjoberg, director, flight operations, MSC; Dr. Christopher C. Kraft, deputy director, MSC; and Dr. Robert R. Gilruth, director, MSC.

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- With the fairing door off, Orbital Science's Jose Castillo and Mark Neuse remove the fairing payload access door on NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, spacecraft on Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Orbital Science's Glenn Weigle and Brett Gladish stand by to take the GN2 flow reading The encapsulated OCO tops Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 24. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo courtesy of Glenn Weigle, Orbital Sciences

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, Orbital Science's Jose Castillo and Mark Neuse (right) move in to remove the fairing payload access door on NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, spacecraft. Orbital Science's Glenn Weigle and Brett Gladish are nearby (shadows on the fairing) to take the GN2 flow reading. The encapsulated OCO tops Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket, which is scheduled to launch Feb. 24. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo courtesy of Glenn Weigle, Orbital Sciences

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Just before dawn on Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, a crane lifts the tent covering (at left) NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, the Taurus XL upper stack and the umbilical tower. The tent removal will allow OCO to be raised. The spacecraft is scheduled for launch aboard Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo credit: NASA/Randy Beaudoin, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the cables from the crane overhead are removed from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, OCO, upper stack. The upper stack was lowered onto the Stage 0 motor of Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL vehicle. The upper stack consists of Stages 1, 2 and 3 of the Taurus, as well as the encapsulated OCO spacecraft. OCO is scheduled for launch the Taurus rocket Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo credit: NASA/Richard Nielsen, VAFB

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, atop Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket has been erected for launch. Around the spacecraft's fairing, at top, is the non-flight environmental shield that will be removed before launch. OCO is scheduled for launch the Taurus rocket Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo courtesy of Brett Gladish, Orbital Sciences The two spacecraft will be integrated with the Atlas V and tested for final flight worthiness. Launch is scheduled for the spring. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. Photo courtesy of Brett Gladish, Orbital Sciences

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, atop Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket has been erected for launch. Around the spacecraft's fairing, at top, is the non-flight environmental shield that will be removed before launch. OCO is scheduled for launch the Taurus rocket Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo courtesy of Brett Gladish, Orbital Sciences The two spacecraft will be integrated with the Atlas V and tested for final flight worthiness. Launch is scheduled for the spring. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. Photo courtesy of Brett Gladish, Orbital Sciences

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- On Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, atop Orbital Sciences' Taurus XL rocket has been erected for launch. Around the spacecraft's fairing, at top, is the non-flight environmental shield that will be removed before launch. OCO is scheduled for launch the Taurus rocket Feb. 24 from Vandenberg. The spacecraft will collect precise global measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists will analyze OCO data to improve our understanding of the natural processes and human activities that regulate the abundance and distribution of this important greenhouse gas. Photo courtesy of Brett Gladish, Orbital Sciences The two spacecraft will be integrated with the Atlas V and tested for final flight worthiness. Launch is scheduled for the spring. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. Photo courtesy of Glenn Weigle, Orbital Sciences