Biological life support systems for a Mars mission planetary base: Problems and prospects

Radish Productivity Under Inclusion of Plant Inedible Biomass in Mass Exchange Processes of a Biological-Technical Life Support System

“…По оценке специалистов, биолого-техническими системами жизнеобеспечения (БТСЖО) длительного срока функционирова-ния будут системы гибридного типа, основан-ные на биологических и физико-химических способах утилизации отходов жизнедеятель-ности человека (Gitelson et al, 2003;Tikhomirov et al, 2003Tikhomirov et al, , 2007Bamsey et al, 2009). Исполь-зование почвоподобного субстрата (ППС) в БТСЖО является одним из перспективных биологических способов вовлечения во внут-рисистемный круговорот несъедобной рас-тительной биомассы (Manukovsky et al, 1997;Liu et al, 2008;Cheng et al, 2013;Hu et al, 2013;Tikhomirov et al, 2011) Минеральный состав образцов анали-зировали методами, описанными в работе (Kalacheva, 2002).…”

Agro-biology for bioregenerative Life Support Systems in long-term Space missions: General constraints and the Italian efforts

“…a lunar base or a mission to Mars (Melissa webpage). Several compartments constitutes its framework: (1) termophilic anaerobic bacteria for waste degradation, (2) photoheterotrophic bacteria for basic food syntheses, (3) nitrifying bacteria for nitrogen conversion, and (4) higher plant production and photoautotrophic bacteria for food, water and air production Recently, the Italian research group of the University of Naples has been involved in MELISSA providing its research experience, in synergy with other projects like Russian Bios-3 system (Tikhomirov et al 2007), to propose different BLSS configurations for long-term manned Space missions.…”

“…It is not realistic to supply a Spaceship traveling towards Mars with all resources, in terms of food, water and oxygen, enough to fulfil the crew's needs for the years required for each mission. As a consequence, such interplanetary travels and the long permanence on Space platforms are strictly based on the development and on the efficient use of biological and physico-chemical regenerative Life Support Systems capable of sustaining the crew's needs through a continuous regeneration of resources with the objective of complete self-sufficiency (MacElroy et al 1987;Rummel and Volk 1987;Bartsev et al 1996;Wheeler et al 1996;Stutte et al 1997;Gros et al 2003;Tikhomirov et al 2007). Physico-chemical Life Support Systems can provide oxygen, reduce carbon dioxide and recycle water, whereas biological Life Support Systems (plants, bacteria, algae, etc.)…”

Sustainable life support on Mars – the potential roles of cyanobacteria

“…Cyanobacteria could also be used to process human waste products and recycle their organic C, water, nitrates and mineral nutrients. Cultures could be used directly (Filali et al 1997;Godia et al 2002;Lehto et al 2006;Yang et al 2008) but also indirectly; for instance, H 2 O 2 generated from cyanobacterium-produced O 2 and H 2 O could be used to oxidize human wastes following a physicochemical process developed by researchers of the Institute of Biophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Kudenko et al 2000); nutrients could then be recycled in cyanobacterial cultures (Tikhomirov et al 2007). Cyanobacteria have also been suggested for the production, beyond Earth, of various chemicals including nutritional molecules, drugs, bioplastics and cellulosic building materials Menezes et al 2014).…”

“…Even in the case where these are the backbones of life-support systems, biological modules could both complement them and provide safe redundancies. Consequently, various bioregenerative lifesupport systems (BLSS) are or have been under development for recycling food, water and gases both in space (e.g., Godia et al 2002;Gitelson et al 2003;Drysdale et al 2004;Lobascio et al 2007;Nelson et al 2010;Giacomelli et al 2012) and within lunar and Martian outposts (e.g., Gitelson 1992;Blüm et al 1994;Tikhomirov et al 2007;Nelson et al 2010). This may sound promising: instead of sending resources in amounts almost proportional to the mission length, only a few weeks' worth of consumables would be sent and recycled.…”