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Estimates of life-support system mass and power demands were generated using the Life Support Systems Analysis (LiSSA) tool for extra-terrestrial outposts. Parameters varied include the crew size, mission duration, power source, and operating-unit redundancy. Development of promising technologies could reduce launch costs by over $30 million but R&D investment is required. Biological food production technologies are power intensive requiring an order of magnitude more power than physical/chemical air/water regenerative systems. The cost of launching and operating a food production facility is justified by the cost of resupply of food if the mission duration is of the order of several years. A system utilizing food production is, by definition, a highly-recycled and closed-loop system; modeling efforts for such systems should rigorously keep track of all chemical species that have a significant impact on crew survival and processing demands.

A model is being developed to quantitatively compare and thus assist in the selection of systems and technology options for defined missions envisioned in NASA's Space Exploration Initiative. It consists of a modular top-down hierarchical break-down of the life support systems (LSS) into subsystems, and further break-down of the subsystems into functional elements representing individual processing technologies. A series of papers entitled Human Life Support During Interplanetary Travel & Domicile are planned to describe the techniques and results. Parts I through V have focused on physical/chemical (P/C) Life Support Systems Analysis, with trade-off studies at the systems and technology levels for open and closed loop configurations. This paper discusses an extension to the Generic Modular Flow Schematic (GMFS) for P/C Life Support Systems by the addition of biological (Bio) processes.

A model has been developed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to quantitatively compare and select life support systems and technology options. The model consists of a modular, top-down hierarchical breakdown of the life support system into subsystems, and further breakdown of subsystems into functional elements representing individual processing technologies. A series of papers titled “Human Life Support During Interplanetary Travel and Domicile” was planned to describe the technique and results. Parts I,II, III, and IV have been presented at previous ICES conferences. This paper includes the technology trades for a Mars mission, using solid waste treatment technologies to recover water from selected liquid and solid waste streams. Technologies include freeze drying, thermal drying, wet oxidation, combustion, and supercritical-water oxidation.

This paper describes the Generic Modular Flow Schematic (GMFS) architecture capable of encompassing all functional elements of a physical/chemical life support system (LSS). The GMFS can be implemented to synthesize, model, analyze, and quantitatively compare many configurations of LSSs, from a simple, completely open-loop to a very complex closed-loop. The GMFS model is coded in ASPEN, a state-of-the art chemical process simulation program, to accurately compute the material, heat, and power flow quantities for every stream in each of the subsystem functional elements (SFEs) in the chosen configuration of a life support system. The GMFS approach integrates the various SFEs and subsystems in a hierarchical and modular fashion facilitating rapid substitutions and reconfiguration of a life support system. The comprehensive ASPEN material and energy balance output is transferred to a systems and technology assessment spreadsheet for rigorous system analysis and trade studies.

A model is being developed to quantitatively compare and select systems and technology option for defined missions envisioned in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 's (NASA's) Space Exploration Initiative. This model consists of a modular, top-down hierarchical break-down of the life support system (LSS) into subsystems, and further break-down of subsystems, into functional elements representing individual processing technologies. A series of papers titled Human Life Support During Interplanetary Travel and Domicile has been planned to describe the technique and results. Part I, presented at the 19th ICES Conference, describe the system approach. Part II, presented at this conference, describe Part III, this paper, describes results of a system trade study for a Mars Expedition mission comparing open and closed loop systems.

A model is being developed to quantitatively compare and select systems and technology options for defined missions envisioned in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Space Exploration Initiative. It consists of a modular, top-down hierarchical break-down of the life support system (LSS) into subsystems, and further break-down of subsystems into functional elements representing individual processing technologies. A series of papers titled “Human Life Support During Interplanetary Travel and Domicile” was planned to describe the technique and results. Part I, presented at the 19th ICES Conference, described the system approach. Parts II, III, and IV are presented at this conference. Part II describes the modeling technique. Part III describes results of a system trade study for a Mars Expedition Mission comparing open and closed loop systems.

This paper compares scaleup correlations developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and at the Langley Research Center (LaRC) for various life support hardware to estimate mass, volume, and power consumption values as a function of feed or product mass flow rates. The scaleup correlations are provided for a few selected advanced life support technologies developed for the Space Station Freedom (SSF). In addition, correlation validity limits and sources of data on various life support hardware are also discussed.