Simulations of Extraterrestrial Pathogen Propagation due to Coughing Events

The increase in frequency of manned and commercial spaceflight has led to greater risk of extraterrestrial disease transmission by means of tumultuous expiratory mechanisms. Unresolved current lapses in analysis of turbulent multiphase jet propagation in microgravity may allow for unchecked infectious disease transmission on isolated spacecraft. Though the distribution and trajectory of the terrestrial turbulent expiratory jet have been examined through computational and experimental techniques, the same is not true for pathogen-laden multiphase jet transport in microgravity. In this poster presentation the trajectories, spread, distribution, and final states of infectious expectorate-laden multiphase microgravity turbulent jets produced by cough mechanisms was simulated using high-performance computing-run large eddy simulation models, allowing for the identification of areas of higher infectious risk and determination of effective extraterrestrial disease-containment protocols.