Life supporting systems

K. J. Dressier and R. N. Prince, "Lithium Peroxide for Portable Life Support System Atmospheric Regeneration," Conference on Portable Eife Support Systems, NASA-Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., Apr. 1969. 

In this case, individual new developments are designed in such a way as to preserve discrete ecological systems that have been identified as of importance as life-support systems , as regionally/internationally important wildlife habitats or as sources of rare natural materials, etc. 

From the applied point of view, this reaction can be used to solve some important issues (1) production of organic subproducts (e.g., methanol, carbon monoxide, oxalic acid), which can be used for synthesizing many valuable organic substances (2) manufacture of synthetic fuels or energy-storage media and (3) removal and utilization of carbon dioxide in life-support systems for closed environments of spacecraft or submarines. 

Verheye W. Soils of arid and semi-arid areas. In UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems. 2006. Submitted for publication. 

NASA conducted studies on the development of the catalysts for methane decomposition process for space life-support systems [94], A special catalytic reactor with a rotating magnetic field to support Co catalyst at 850°C was designed. In the 1970s, a U.S. Army researcher M. Callahan [95] developed a fuel processor to catalytically convert different hydrocarbon fuels to hydrogen, which was used to feed a 1.5 kW FC. He screened a number of metals for the catalytic activity in the methane decomposition reaction including Ni, Co, Fe, Pt, and Cr. Alumina-supported Ni catalyst was selected as the most suitable for the process. The following rate equation for methane decomposition was reported ... 

The latter concept implies providing local life support systems for unfriendly environments. By now, Ukrainian scientists and engineers have developed a variety of processes for potable water treatment by adsorption, electrochemical oxidation, electrocoagulation, electro-coprecipitation, electrodialysis, electrofloatation, floatation, membrane techniques etc. Each family must get small units for water purification, air cleaning and removal of hazardous substances from the food as soon as possible, for it may take decades to introduce cleaner production on a national scale. Here, we should follow the example of Western business people who bring with them to Ukraine devices enabling a safe existence in this unfriendly environment. 

An analysis of the man-production-environment system reveals that for survival of human beings the CP concept must be complemented by two more lines of action, namely adaptation of human body to life in adverse conditions, and utilization of life support systems. 

The problem they chose for their prototype is part of the life support system, specifically the portion that removes COg from the cabin atmosphere. This system already has been constructed, and NASA engineers are already familiar with its operation and how it can fail. Using this information they were able to build as part of their knowledge base a simple simulation for the modes of failure of each of the components in the system. The life support system is modular, in that portions of it can be replaced, once a problem has been isolated. The graphical representation chosen for the instrument schematic and panel is shown in Figure 3. 

Simply pointing to the IDENTIFT hutton runs the rule system, which diagnoses the problem and provides advice on action to take to fix the life support system. The remainder of the screen is devoted to various switches and output windows that are used to build and debug the knowledge base. 

Mardniec, B., Pawluc, P. and Pietraszuk, C. (2007) Inorganometallic Chemistry, in Inorganic and Bio-Inorganic Chemistry, Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (ed. I. Bertini), Developed under the Auspices of UNESCO, EOLSS Publishers Co. Ltd, Oxford, UK www.eols.net. 

Wang, L.K. Industrial ecology. In Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems Hazardous Waste Management, Chapter 15 Grasso, D., Vogel, T., Smets, B., Eds. Eolss PubUshers Co., Ltd. London, 2003 www.eolss.net/E-l-08-toc.aspx. 

Hefferon, K.L. (2007). Transgenic plants and biotechnology, in Biotechnology, [Ed. Horst W. Doelle], in Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), Developed under the auspices of UNESCO, EOLSS Publishers, Oxford, UK [http //www.eolss.net]. 

Figure 17.2 Dr. Ted Tibbitts of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wl, USA, working with potato plants in a growth chamber. Ted Tibbitts was the principal investigator for NASA-sponsored studies with potatoes from 1982 through 1994, and work from his laboratory has provided baseline information on controlled environment production techniques bioregenerative life support systems in space.

Mitchell, C. A., Dougher, T. A. O.,Nielsen, S. S., Belury, M. A., Wheeler, R. M. (1996). Costs of providing edible biomass for a balanced diet in a controlled eeologieal life support system. In Ft. Suge (Ed.), Plants in Space Biology (pp. 245-254). Tohoku Univ. Press, Sendai, Japan. 

Tibbitts, T. W., Alford, D. K. (1982). Controlled eeologieal life support system use of higher plants. NASA Conf. Pub. 2231. Moffett Field, CA, US. 

Wheeler, R. M. (2003). Carbon balance in bioregenerative life support systems Effects of system closure, waste management, and crop harvest index. Adv. Space Res., 3J(1), 169-175. 

Wheeler, R. M., Mackowiak, C. L., Stutte, G. W., Yorio, N. C., Sager, J. C., Ruffe, L. M., Petersen, B. V., Berry, W. L., Goins, G. D., Prince, R. P, Hinkle, C. R., Knott, W. M. (2003). Crop production for advanced life support systems-Observations from the Kennedy Space Center Breadboard Project NTiSA Tech Mem, 211184. 

Wheeler, R. M., Tibbitts, T. W. (1986a). Utilization of potatoes for life support systems in space. I. Cultivar-photoperiod interaction. Amer. Potato J., 63, 315-323. 

Special applications The environmental control and life support system on a spacecraft maintains a safe and comfortable environment, in which the crew can live and work, by supplying oxygen and water and by removing carbon dioxide, water vapor, and trace contaminants from cabin air. It is apparent that the processes aimed at the recycling of air and water are vital for supporting life in the cabin. These recycling processes include separation and reduction of carbon dioxide, removal of trace gas-phase contaminants, recovery and purification of humidity condensate, purification and polishing of wastewater streams, and are performed totally or in part by adsorption equipment (Dabrowski, 2001). ... 

Another special application of adsorption in space is presented by Grover et al. (1998). The University of Washington has designed an in situ resource utilization system to provide water to the life-support system in the laboratory module of the NASA Mars Reference Mission, a piloted mission to Mars. In this system, the Water Vapor Adsorption Reactor (WAVAR) extracts water vapor from the Martian atmosphere by adsorption in a bed of type 3A zeolite molecular1 sieve. Using ambient winds and fan power to move atmosphere, the WAVAR adsorbs the water vapor until the zeolite 3A bed is nearly saturated, and then heats the bed within a sealed chamber by microwave radiation to drive off water for collection. Tire water vapor flows to a condenser where it freezes and is later liquefied for use in tire life-support system. 

The marine environment clearly holds a tremendous potential for the discovery of lead compounds for development of agents active against infectious diseases and parasites. Within the vast resource of marine flora and fauna are new chemotypes to stem the tide of drug-resistant microbes and insects. Tapping this biological reserve depends on the technology to collect, rapidly recognize, and characterize trace quantities of secondary metabolites. Recent advances in life-support systems and analytical instrumentation, notably with CCUBA, HPLC, NMR, and MS have made this possible. 

Avemer. M. Karel, and R. Radnor Problems Associated with Utilization of Algae in Bioregenerative Life Support Systems, NASA Contractor Report 166615, 1984. 

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