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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.

This paper summarizes results from the first NASA Life Support Systems Analysis Workshop sponsored by the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology on June 24-27, 1991, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and provides a brief overview of the second workshop held May 12-14, 1992. The objectives of the workshops were to: 1) encourage communication in life support systems analysis among NASA, the aerospace industry, universities, and the chemical processing industry; 2) provide access and exposure to current NASA life support systems analysis efforts; 3) establish and provide results of the workshop sessions to NASA and the participants regarding future activities and directions for the development of life support systems analysis capabilities. The participants included representatives from NASA Headquarters and field centers, major aerospace companies, aerospace R&D and manufacturing companies, chemical processing companies, and universities.

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.

A quantitative comparison of the merits/demerits of storage vs. regeneration of essential supplies for long duration extraterrestrial manned missions requires detailed life support systems analyses. This is the first part of a series of papers highlighting the importance of mission-driven system definition and assessment for extraterrestrial human life support. In this part, rationale and methodology for adopting the systems approachis discussed. A top-down hierarchical structurefor conceptual modeling of life support systems is also presented. The necessity for validation of all data utilized in any system assessment study is briefly discussed.