The composition and physical properties of martian regolith are dramatically better understood compared to just a decade ago, particularly through the use of X-ray diffraction by the Curiosity rover. Because there are no samples of this material on Earth, researchers and engineers rely on terrestrial simulants to test future hardware and address fundamental science and engineering questions. Even with eventual sample return, the amount of material brought back would not be enough for bulk studies. However, many of the existing regolith simulants were designed 10 or 20 years ago based on a more rudimentary understanding of martian surface materials. Here, we describe the Mars Global Simulant (MGS-1), a new open standard designed as a high fidelity mineralogical analog to global basaltic regolith on Mars, as represented by the Rocknest windblown deposit at Gale crater. We developed prototype simulants using the MGS-1 standard and characterized them with imaging techniques, bulk chemistry, spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. We found the characteristics of the MGS-1 based simulant compare favorably to rover- and remote sensing-based observations from Mars, and offer dramatic improvements over past simulants in many areas. Modest amounts of simulant will be produced at the University of Central Florida. By publishing the mineral recipe and production methods, we anticipate that other groups can re-create the simulant and modify it as they see fit, leading to region-specific and application-specific versions based on a common standard.
Bioregenerative life-support systems for space have been investigated for 60 years, and plants and other photosynthetic organisms are central to this concept for their ability to produce food and O2, remove CO2, and help recycle wastewater. Many of the studies targeted larger scale systems that might be used for planetary surface missions, with estimates ranging from about 40 to 50 m2 (or more) of crop growing area needed per person. But early space missions will not have these volumes available for crop growth. How can plants be used in the interim, where perhaps <5 m2 of growing area might be available? One option is to grow plants as supplemental, fresh foods. This could improve the quality and diversity of the meals on the International Space Station or on the Lunar surface, and supply important nutrients to the astronauts for missions like Mars transit, and longer duration Martian surface missions. Although plant chambers for supplemental food production would be relatively small, they could provide the bioregenerative research community with platforms for testing different crops in a space environment and serve as a stepping stone to build larger bioregenerative systems for future missions. Here we review some of NASA’s research and development (ground and spaceflight) targeting fresh food production systems for space. We encourage readers to also look into the extensive work by other space agencies and universities around the world on this same topic.
In this perspectives paper, we identify major challenges for space crop production: altered convection in the microgravity environment, scheduling and logistics, crew time and the need for advanced automation, robotics, modeling, and machine learning. We provide an overview of the existing space crop production gaps identified by the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) space crop production team and discuss efforts in current development in NASA projects to address these gaps. We note that this list may not be exhaustive but aims to present the baseline needs for space crop production implementation and a subset of current solutions to the greater scientific community in order to foster further ingenuity.
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