Lessons Learned from the International Space Station (ISS) Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Water Subsystem

The International Space Station (ISS) has served as an excellent test bed for the implementation and integration of several life support systems, and has offered many lessons that can be applied to future vehicles and program. This paper focuses on those lessons learned within the Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) Water Subsystem, which have dictated on-orbit system performance and forced many operational controls. These include lessons on the need for precise documentation and testing, pros and cons of different types of storage containers, and the need for designing systems to have accessibility and flexibility. This paper describes the issues encountered on ISS and suggests solutions for future systems in the form of recommendations and questions posed to the future designers.