Further Reading: Life Support and Human Spaceflight

Human spaceflight is a discipline of its own, blending physiology, chemistry, and systems engineering. The sources below are Tier 1 (canonical works we are confident exist) or Tier 2 (a real, named result or resource whose exact edition, page, or URL we do not pin down here). Where a number in the chapter came from a mission measurement, the primary source is flagged.

Core textbook treatments

Wertz, Everett & Puschell, Space Mission Engineering: The New SMAD. Our systems-engineering reference throughout the book. Its treatment of crew systems, environmental budgets, and human-rating is the right place to see life support sit inside the whole mission-design process — exactly the framing of this chapter's Mission Design Checkpoint. Tier 1.

Larson & Pranke (eds.), Human Spaceflight: Mission Analysis and Design (the "HSMAD"). The companion volume aimed squarely at crewed missions: consumables budgeting, ECLSS architectures, radiation, and habitability, at engineering depth. If you want one book that expands every section here, this is it. Tier 1.

Eckart, Spaceflight Life Support and Biospherics. A focused text on the physics and chemistry of life-support loops — electrolysis, Sabatier, water recovery, and bioregenerative systems — with the mass and power numbers worked out. Tier 1.

Primary and reference data

NASA, Life Support Baseline Values and Assumptions Document (BVAD). The source of the per-crew-day consumables figures used in this chapter (oxygen, water, food, CO$_2$). When you need defensible planning numbers rather than the round ones here, this is the reference. Tier 2 — a real, periodically updated NASA document; find the current revision by title.

Hassler et al., "Mars' Surface Radiation Environment Measured with the Curiosity Rover's RAD" (Science, 2014) and the associated cruise-phase results. The origin of the "~1.8 mSv/day in deep-space cruise" and Mars-mission dose estimates in §28.3. Reading the actual measurement makes the radiation problem concrete. Tier 2 — a real, widely cited result; verify the exact figures against the paper.

On the physiology and the human factor

NASA Human Research Program — "The Human Body in Space" and the risk reports. Free, current summaries of what microgravity and radiation do to the body and what countermeasures exist, written for a general-technical audience. Good second reading for §28.4 and §28.6. Tier 2 — a real, long-running NASA resource; find the current pages by searching the title.

Kanas & Manzey, Space Psychology and Psychiatry. The standard reference on the isolation, confinement, and crew-dynamics issues of §28.6, drawing on spaceflight and analog (Antarctic, submarine, Mars500) experience. Tier 1.

Watch and explore

Scott Manley, YouTube — videos on life support, radiation, and artificial gravity. Clear, expert explanations that pair well with §28.2 (how the loops close) and §28.5 (why spinning stations must be so large). Tier 2.

Life-support mods for Kerbal Space Program (USI-LS, Kerbalism). The fastest way to feel the open-loop mass penalty and the value of recycling: fly a long mission and watch the food and oxygen numbers drain. Kerbalism also models radiation. Tier 2 — community software.

Suggested order

1. Reread §28.1–28.2, then skim the NASA BVAD consumables tables to see the real planning numbers behind the round ones.
2. Read the NASA Human Research Program summaries on radiation and the body alongside §28.3–28.4.
3. For the systems view, work through the crew-systems chapter of HSMAD or The New SMAD.
4. If you have KSP with a life-support mod, fly a six-month mission open-loop, then again with recyclers, and compare the launch mass — then reread the break-even example in §28.2.