Research and development of life-support systems for manned spacecraft began in the late 50's@ after the U. S. S. R. and the U. S. A. demonstrated that rocket engines could be used to establish earthorbital satellites. The U.S. Government began contract work on thts subject during fiscal year 1958; hundreds of contracts were completed during the next ten years Life-support systems include a wide variety of equipment - in fact@ sometimes everything that can be thought of as providing for the safety and well-being of the crew. In this report the definition is limited to the systems provided for Pressure@ Temperature and Humidity Control Oxygen Storage and Recovery Carbon Dioxide Removal Trace Contaminant Control Water Recovery Waste Management Food Supply and Synthesis There have been many processes or techniques devised to accomplish these tasks. Most of them have been experimentally evaluated@ but very few have ever reached the prototype stage of development. This report lists the best references on each subject@ and cross-indexes them in table form to indicate that the reference contains a description and/or analysis of the process@ or quantitative data@ and/ or the description of an experimental@ flight prototype or flight qualified system. This format shows which systems have been seriously considered@ and the ones that have been actually developed and qualified The discussions before each tabulation were prepared by several engineers or scientists that are recognized specialists on each subject. Their summary of the history and current status of each type of system should be valuable to new personnel entering this field. The comments on the futu re prospects should help experienced workers direct their efforts towards the most promising processes and type of equipment