Life support systems weight for extended stays

[Xavven]

This is loosely related to KSP in that I'm trying to decide how many hitchhiker containers to put on my Duna mission, but I was wondering how much all the life support systems on Apollo weighed for a 12 day mission, and how much it would weigh for a 3 year Mars mission.

Kerbals probably eat less than humans, so I'm going to go with 2 pounds of food per day. But then there's water and its recycling, an environmental control system (oxygen, filtering, temperature and humidity control), medical facilities, exercise equipment, etc.

I'm not sure I want to use ISS numbers because that station is larger than what we'd send to Mars, not that I can even find those numbers.

[tater]

 

This is what the Mars DRA has for a transit vehicle (top). They are around 10m in diameter. This is for 6 people (this shows nuke propulsion, but they have the same crew portions for chemical as well). Call it on the order of a hitchhiker per kerbal, plus your transfer vehicle(s), and a lander.

[Xavven]

Thanks! This is exactly what I needed. Looks like life support is heaaavvyy.

[wumpus]

I'd imagine that the work Bidgelow Aerospace is doing will be critical for any trip to Mars.  Early testing on the ISS  has been good, and at least these things will allow a bit more room for the astronauts on the trip over there.

[tater]

The DRA image shows a NASA transhab, which is the idea that Bigelow licensed for their habs.

Current habs tend to look like this in concepts, though radiation mitigation needs to be considered, honestly.