The Portable Unit for Metabolic Analysis (PUMA) is currently being developed at NASA Glenn. It is a battery operated, wearable unit to measure metabolic functions. PUMA measure carbon dioxide output, oxygen intake, volumetric data, and heart rate to build a metabolic profile.

The focus of my research with PUMA, under the direction of Dr. Daniel Dietrich, was on the long term stability of the carbon dioxide sensor. Long term testing was needed to see if the PUMA equipment would be suitable for a long duration space mission, such as a crewed mission to the Moon or Mars. With my time at NASA Glenn I also researched information about the purchasing of commercial carbon dioxide sensors to test PUMA against. Working with the PUMA project gave me my first opportunity to perform high level research. I was able to learn about data acquisition techniques as well as designing experimental setups. I would like to thank the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate internship program and the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium for offering and funding this opportunity.


This paper is a summary of the testing procedures I used while working on PUMA at NASA Glenn. PUMA 1