Advanced Life Support Systems Analysis: Methodological Framework and Application Studies

This paper is intended to address the process of System Analysis in the area of Advanced Life-Support Systems (ALSS). Particular attention is given to Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) architectures. The process of System Analysis is an iterative one in which “trade-offs” of various system elements are executed to evaluate system functionality and structure. In the process, consideration is given to factors such as system requirements, potential architectures and design concepts, integration issues and system operations.

The emphasis of the paper is on developing a consistent framework for the analysis process. It is anticipated that by developing a formal framework, particularly for the systems analysis of a CELSS, comparisons of approaches and of quantitative assessments will be made easier.