Regenerative life-support system development problems for the Mars mission

An analysis of expediency of using physicochemical and biotechnological complexes of life-support systems has been performed with reference to the most likely trends of manned cosmonautics development for the nearest decades--orbital stations in the Earth orbit, Moon base, and Mars mission. The analysis results have shown that the physicochemical complex is much more advantageous than the biotechnological one for all cases considered. This conclusion is based on significant difference in power utilization factor: 70-90% for the physicochemical complex and 5-10% for the biotechnological one as far as the photosynthesis efficiency is concerned. The selection of the physicochemical complex systems is considered; particular attention is payed to operating reliability and performance.