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Advanced life support and habitat functions for exploration missions will require the autonomous control of many interdependent subsystems. A controls evaluation was envisioned to help define the questions necessary to develop an architecture capable of this degree of autonomy. To conduct this evaluation, a biological test bed that consists of a pair of interdependent subsystems was developed. The biological test bed represents an analog of a life support subsystem necessary for long-duration, human-rated exploration missions. The test bed consists of a packed bed anoxic bioreactor for the removal of organic carbon, coupled with an aerobic nitrifier that converts ammonia to nitrogen.

From 1997 to 2001, the third author worked with a team of engineers at JSC to develop the requirements and basic design for the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex, or BIO-Plex. Under the Advanced Integration Matrix (AIM) Project, this earlier effort is extended to an investigation of methods and approaches for Advanced Systems Integration and Control. The intent is to understand and validate the use of software as an integrating function for complex heterogeneous systems, particularly for Advanced Life Support (ALS), in the context of support of mission operations. Preliminary investigations undertaken in the summer of 2004 indicate that integration of controls for the type of dynamic, non-linear, closed-loop biological systems under investigation for ALS systems require a different systems engineering approach than that required for traditional avionics systems.