- All you need to know about atmospheric manipulation in Ostranauts

So you wanna be a Space Cowboy? Then you might wanna know a thing or two about the Lungstuff you're gonna be gasping for all day. In this here little Guide I've compiled all the latest knowledge gathered by OKLGs ARC (Atmoshperic Research Center). Lot of D-Class got decommisioned during these tests, so make sure you heed the results to avoid the same fate.

Allowed myself to add some comments as well.

- O2 -

That's the good stuff as far as your Lungs are concerned.

O2 Pressure is kept at a standard ~20kPa under monitored atmosphere.
At O2 Pressures below 15.5 kPA test subjects invariably suffer from hypoxia, resulting in Nausea and severe Headaches.
Hypoxic subjects invariably expire within 50-60 minutes, unless exposed to an atmosphere at or above 20kPa O2 until the symptomes subside.

O2 pressure in a standard issue pressure suit decreases by 3.75kPa per 10 Minutes according testing with average D-Class subjects.

Hyperoxia has not [yet] been observed in any subjects, regardless of the O2 content in the atmosphere. Can't have to much of that sweet O2!

- N2 -

N2 Pressure is kept at a standard 80kPa under monitored atmosphere.

No negative effect has been observed by lack of N2 in the atmosphere, as long as generall pressure levels are at 51kPa or higher.

General atmospheric pressure below 50kPa will have subjects gasping for air, this results in decreased work efficiency and might lead to Hypoxia.

- CO2 -

CO2 in excess of 1.6kPa under Standard Atmosphere as been shown to lead to Hypercapnia and eventual Death of the Test Subjects.

Exposing the Subjects to a pure Oxygen Environment at 100kPa made it possible to push the onset of Hypercapnia back to 5.7kPa of CO2.

This means you can extend your work time in a pressure suit significantly by breathing pure Oxygen before you seal up.

2. Components

There's some handy equiment allowing you to manipulate the lungstuff within your trusty death trap.

- Gas Cannisters -

Gas Cannisters have a dry weight of 115kg. They are used for storage and transport of large quantities of atmospheric gases.
Gas Cannisters are found containing ~375kg N2 or 428kg O2 at a standard pressure of ~41kPa and are clearly labeled for the gas they contain.

Any cannister may contain any amount of one or multiple gases. During testing, no cannister has ruptured [yet]. Affiliated researchers confirmed stable internal pressures of up to 400.000kPa

Note: D-Class personel placed directly on top of a loose gas cannister has displayed the urge to breathe directly from the bottle within a couple of seconds, leading to bouts of sudden Hypoxia in the case of N2 cans. Supervisor discretion is advised.

- Atmospheric Sensors -

Atmospheric Sensors are specialized in measuring either O2, N2 or CO2 pressure. Either sensor can be connected to an airpump to allow monitoring of atmospheric contents and establishment of a standard atmosphere (20kPa O2 to 80kPa N2).
O2 sensors will also sound an alarm if O2 pressure falls below 20kPa.
CO2 sensors will sound an alarm if O2 pressure exceeds 1.5kPa. They can be connected to a CO2 scrubber in order to keep CO2 levels in check.

Note:ARC does not recommend uninstalling active sensors for security reasons.

I disagree, we're all adults here and can read our own pressure gauges. Also that alarm is really annoying!

- Compartments -

A compartment is any single space fully enclosed by floors, walls and doors as to be airtight. Don't forget to put floors below the inner walls. It'll allow you to remodel without popping your bubble every time you get the urge to remodel.

- Air Pumps -

An air pump moves gas from the rectangular intake section to the toothed output section.
Red arrow goes in, green light puts out, easy!
The pump will draw from cannisters placed on the input square, regardless of wether they are installed there or not.
It will pump into any cannister on the Output square in the same manner.
If no cannister is placed underneath, the pump will take in from and/or put out into the compartments atmosphere.

Pumping to a cannister will always deposit gases in the same ratio as they are drawn from the source.

Air pumps have three modes wich can be set by accessing the control panel:

Off - the air pump does nothing, regardless of sensor input
Auto - if linked to a sensor, the airpump will try to maintain the standard level of the gas the sensor is measuring for.
On - the air pump works at full capacity, regardless of sensor input

Activating your O2 pump manually is how you supercharge your lungstuff with oxygen to allow for longer stints in pressure suits!

Air pumps may be linked to one sensor by accessing the control panel, loosening the screws [left klick] interacting with the contact [left klick] on the right side of the panel and choosing the sensor to connect to afterwards [left klick again].

If a pump on Auto is connected to a sensor, it will try to maintain the standard kPa of whatever gas the sensor is monitoring, regardless of the gases at it's source.
This means putting a N2 can into the pump connected to your O2 sensor will throw out a lot of N2 attemting to level your O2 out

- Turbo Pumps -

Turbo Pumps are Air Pumps with extended features. They feature a "turbo" setting allowing for tenfold throughput over standard, an option to reverse the flow as well as a "slow" mode providing signifcantly lesser throughput then a standard pump.

A single Turbo Pump is able to de- or repressure a standard sized 3x3 airlock in less then 3 minutes, allowing for long term retention of on shipboard gas supplies.

The slow mode allows reliable refilling of EVA Oxygen bottles, if the bottle is placed below the outlet.

Not wrong, but with a bit of finesse, normal pump speed is just as good to fill a bottle. Just don't leave it on turbo by accident.

- CO2 scrubber -

CO2 scrubbers remove excess CO2 from an atmosphere if powered and active. A gas can placed below the outlet keeps the filtered CO2 contained
If installed correctly, a pump may be used to pump CO2 from the scrubber outlet and vent it into space directly. This requires the intake of the pump to be positioned directly ontop of the outlet of the scrubber.
The arrangement works both with and without an installed can. Not using a can was observed to lead to a minor loss of other gases present in the ships athmosphere.

Don't waste the CO2 to space, plug it into your RCS once the can is full!

- RCS Intake -

While not actually a component of the atmospheric control systems, ARC feels compelled to note, that any gas will be accepted by the RCS system, as long as a cannister containing it is placed below the intake. It need not be installed. This allows excess CO2 to be used as propellant.

UReuse and recycle!

As of now no method of creating new gas supplies has been indentified. There are however plentifull supplies available for purchase at the various stations around the solar system.

In a pinch, you can connect to a station, open all the doors and put your pumps on reverse to take on lungstuff, or refill your cans on the stations air pumps, if you feel feisty.