Analysis of Historical Life Support Systems to Define a Design Envelope for Future Missions

Since the dawn of the space age in the early 1960s, humans have ventured into space and continuously pushed the boundaries of space exploration. In order to sustain their health in this harsh environment and permanently inhabit the vicinity of the Earth and the Moon, various Life Support Systems (LSSs) have been developed. Ranging from simple storage tanks during the early Soviet and American missions to complex physico-chemical (P/C) systems and technology demonstrations for bio-regenerative systems on the International Space Station, LSS complexity has increased over the years. For future missions to the Moon and Mars, this trend is expected to continue, with a focus on increasing system autonomy and robustness. In this paper, past and present LSSs are analyzed regarding their mass requirements per Crew Member (CM) as well as their mission duration. By evaluating this data, relationships between the different systems are identified, design trends are determined and an easier preliminary design for future missions is facilitated. Using these trends, a design envelope is defined that intends to set boundaries which enable engineers to decide on a viable LSS design for future exploration based on the mission duration.