METRIC FLIGHTTHE ARLO / ORBITAL RESEARCH

The ARLO / CHAPTER 04 OF 10 / Life support

Make every breath
part of the design.

Air, water, pressure, waste and fire response form one tightly coupled system.

04Crew study case
400 kmReference altitude
30 daysInitial occupied mission
10 chaptersOne connected vision
ARLO life support schematic
Reference schematic · Download drawing ↗

Air is more than oxygen

The design must regulate pressure, oxygen partial pressure, carbon dioxide, temperature, humidity and trace contaminants. Forced ventilation matters in microgravity. The equipment selection must include sensors, calibration, maintenance access and consumable replacement, not simply a nominal removal rate. Oxygen generation, stored reserve gas and carbon-dioxide removal need fault-response analysis.

A water loop with a boundary

NASA reported a 98% water-recovery demonstration using ISS systems including a brine processor. That is a useful technology reference, not an ARLO recovery specification or a claim of complete closure. Hygiene flows, water in food, oxygen-production water, losses, maintenance and rejected batches must all be included in ARLO’s own mass balance.

A transparent planning example

For four crew over 30 days, an assumed oxygen demand of 0.84 kg/person/day implies 100.8 kg before reserve. An assumed 1 kg/person/day carbon-dioxide production implies 120 kg to manage. These are provisional sizing inputs, not medical or operational limits. A 3.5 kg/person/day water flow at 90% recovery loses 42 kg over 30 days; at 98%, 8.4 kg. Neither number includes the initial inventory or all mission water uses.

Prove the loop before people depend on it

Run an integrated ground campaign with representative metabolic loads, contaminants, maintenance cycles and sensor failures. Demonstrate degraded modes, inventory tracking, microbial control and water-quality verification. Define safe-haven duration from actual loads and replenishment routes. Emergency oxygen and carbon-dioxide control cannot be replaced by an attractive recycling percentage.

Research basis / reviewed 23 October 2026

  1. NASA · Environmental Control and Life Support ↗
  2. NASA · 98% water-recovery demonstration ↗
  3. NASA-STD-3001 · Human systems ↗

Sources establish engineering context, not ARLO performance. Numerical allocations are our provisional study assumptions. Images are concept art; diagrams and animations are explanatory.