biology

Vika oxygen generator

Vika oxygen generator is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Vika oxygen generator rather than just read about it. In short: Vika or TGK is an oxygen generating system for spaceflight. It is a SFOG, or solid-fuel oxygen generator, a kind of chemical oxygen generator.

Key takeaways

Vika oxygen generator belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Vika oxygen generator to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Vika oxygen generator from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Vika or TGK is an oxygen generating system for spaceflight. It is a SFOG, or solid-fuel oxygen generator, a kind of chemical oxygen generator. It has been used on the retired Mir space station and the International Space Station. It was originally developed by Roscosmos to supplement the Elektron oxygen system on Mir. A Vika module, also known as a "candle", contains about one liter of lithium perchlorate and can provide oxygen for one person for 24 hours. After being adopted for use on the ISS, it had the NASA name SFOG, but they also sometimes use the Russian acronym TGK.

Vika on Mir

Vika was used on Mir when more than three people were on board. Vika needs a supply of canisters to work, which must be flown into space. An example of this is Progress M-34, which carried 60 canisters to Mir in 1997 along with other cargo. If Vika and Elektron stopped working, the station would have to rely on a limited supply of bottled oxygen.

In February 1997 a Vika chemical oxygen generator failed on Mir in the Kvant-1 module. It caught fire and spewed a torch-like jet of a molten metal and sparks across one of the Mir space station modules, burning for around 14 minutes and blocking the escape route to the docked Soyuz spacecraft. The fire was eventually extinguished, and the crew was not harmed. A definitive cause of the accident was not determined because the fire destroyed the device. It was suspected that a torn piece of rubber glove worn during assembly likely contaminated the canister. Despite this incident, NASA decided it was still the best supplemental oxygen system available, and supported its use on the then-upcoming ISS. The US and Russia worked together to improve the safety of the system before using it on the new space station.

Vika on ISS

A backup to the temperamental Elektron system used on both the ISS and Mir is the Vika solid-fuel oxygen generator (SFOG), which contains a replaceable cartridge – a thin-walled steel tube with a three-part block of oxygen-releasing mixture based on lithium perchlorate. Two parts are tablets of the chemical mixture and the third one is the igniter tablet with a flash igniter. The igniter is struck by a firing pin when the device is activated. One cartridge releases 600 litres (160 US gal) of oxygen and burns for 5–20 minutes at 450–500 °C (842–932 °F). The oxygen is cooled and filtered to remove dust and odours, and released into the space station atmosphere.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Vika oxygen generator

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Vika oxygen generator claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Vika oxygen generator before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Vika oxygen generator ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Vika oxygen generator

In research: Vika oxygen generator appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Vika oxygen generator in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Vika oxygen generator is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mir, Oxygen, Spacecraft life support systems, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Vika oxygen generator outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Vika oxygen generator in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Vika oxygen generator means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Vika oxygen generator out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Vika oxygen generator in simple terms?

Vika or TGK is an oxygen generating system for spaceflight. It is a SFOG, or solid-fuel oxygen generator, a kind of chemical oxygen generator.

Why does Vika oxygen generator matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Vika oxygen generator?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Vika oxygen generator.