Spacecraft Atmosphere Monitor

The Spacecraft Atmosphere Monitor (SCRAM) is a highly compact gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GCMS) instrument built by JPL that is a technology demonstration on the International Space Station for monitoring the cabin atmosphere in human spacecraft.

SCRAM measures both the major constituents (e.g. nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide) and trace parts per billion volatile chemicals (e.g. benzene, ethanol, siloxanes)in the spacecraft cabin atmosphere to ensure the help safeguard the health of the astronauts.

SCRAM has a total mass of 9.5 kg and uses 40W (nominal) during operation.

SCRAM is an advanced technology demonstration that can be employed on future crewed flight missions, like in the Artemis program and the Orion spacecraft.

The two instruments operating at the same time will enable JPL scientists to continuously monitor the ISS cabin atmosphere for interesting or anomalous constituents and temporal or spatial variations in the cabin atmosphere.