Development of Carbon Dioxide Removal Systems for NASA’s Deep Space Human Exploration Missions 2016-2017

NASA has embarked on an endeavor that will enable humans to explore deep space, with the ultimate goal of sending humans to Mars. This journey will require significant developments in a wide range of technical areas as resupply is unavailable in the Mars transit phase, and early return is not possible. Additionally, mass, power, and volume must be minimized for all phases to reduce propulsion needs. Among the critical areas identified for development are life support systems, which will require increases in reliability and reduced resource requirements. This paper discusses current and planned developments in the area of carbon dioxide removal to support crewed Mars-class missions.