NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Marshall Center employees exercise on bikes, rowing machines and treadmills inside the Regenerative ECLSS Module. Image Credit: NASA/MSFC
As NASA prepares for extended travel to the moon and beyond, scientists, engineers and technicians at Marshall Space Flight Center are developing and testing life support systems that will make it possible for astronauts to survive long-duration visits to the moon and beyond.

For almost 20 years, Marshall engineers have led the design, testing and development of the International Space Station life support system, called the regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS). In human spaceflight, the life support systems are a group of devices that allow people to survive in outer space. The Wastewater Recovery System "recycles" waste water into usable water, while the Oxygen Generation System provides oxygen for breathing air for the crew, reducing the need for costly transportation of these items. The life support systems also remove carbon dioxide and other harmful gases from the cabin atmosphere and help maintain comfortable cabin temperature, humidity, and pressure. With the recent delivery and installation success of the final components for the ECLSS system aboard the International Space Station, Marshall engineers are now busy building and supplying nearly 150 orbital replacement units and providing sustaining engineering expertise for these critical systems.

Today, Marshall engineers are designing and testing a new generation of life support systems as part of a project called Exploration Life Support systems. Hardware to remove carbon dioxide and humidity from the atmosphere of the Orion crew exploration vehicle is being developed and tested at the center. Also under development and testing is a waste water processor that uses some of the technologies used in the International Space Station water processor. This kind of water processor will be used in a lunar habitat, where recovering a higher percentage of water from waste water will be very important. As in the space station, the water system will need to process urine and humidity from the atmosphere (mainly from perspiration and respiration) but in addition, the Exploration Life Support system hardware will process waste water from taking showers, washing clothes, and other hygienic activities.