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Successful operation of life support systems for space exploration missions of the future will require unique sophisticated sensor systems for highly dependable operation, i.e., autonomous and fault tolerant. These sensor systems will require the use of multifunctional in situ sensors that are strategically located throughout the life support systems. These sensors will communicate through control loops that are hierarchically interconnected at several levels of the life support system. Development of the sensor system must be done synergistically with the integration and testing of the subsystems, and their process units, as they are assembled and tested. The plan for proceeding with the sensor systems development and the integration with the test bed assembly and operation is described in this paper.

Successful operation of life support systems for human exploration of space will depend largely on in situ sensors and integration of these sensors to an autonomous control architecture. The complexity of a life support system demands that these sensors be uniquely qualified for a number of specific applications. Such applications may require multifunctional monitoring of the sensor environment and intelligent interaction with other sensors and control elements. In situ sensors found in the chemical processing industry are largely not multifunctional and not necessarily selected for minimal weight, volume and power demand. Therefore, the state-of-the-art for in situ sensors found in the chemical processing industries is not directly transferrable to life support applications. Highly autonomous life support systems require reliable chemical, physical and biosensors requiring little maintenance and which are highly fault-tolerant.