Key Gaps for Enabling Plant Growth in Future Missions

Anderson, Molly; Motil, Brian J.; Barta, D.J.; Fritsche, Ralph; Massa, Gioia D.; Quincy, Charlie; Romeyn, Matthew W.; Wheeler, Ray; Hanford, Anthony J.

doi:10.2514/6.2017-5142

Cited by 16 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…The goal of this research was to determine if future plant-based Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) growing crops for human colonies on the Moon or Mars (Averner et al, 1984;Wheeler, 2010Wheeler, , 2017 can be sized using 1 g data (Monje et al, 2005). In addition, NASA has recently identified the need for new technologies in space crop production and food safety for supplementing the space diet with fresh leafy green crops in near term ISS, cislunar, and lunar missions (Massa et al, 2015;Anderson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Spaceflight Plant Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Larger plant growth systems are required to overcome the remaining challenges in spaceflight plant research. These challenges are to develop and demonstrate the performance of substrate-free, gravity-independent, water delivery systems to safely grow salad crops in reduced gravity environments for supplementing crew diets (Massa et al, 2015;Anderson et al, 2017;Khodadad et al, 2020).…”

Section: Spaceflight Plant Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hardware Validation of the Advanced Plant Habitat on ISS: Canopy Photosynthesis in Reduced Gravity

et al. 2020

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Section: Spaceflight Plant Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Spaceflight Plant Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hardware Validation of the Advanced Plant Habitat on ISS: Canopy Photosynthesis in Reduced Gravity

et al. 2020

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“…If tested in micro-gravity environment (such as the ISS), food production systems should be scalable and adaptable to use on planetary surfaces. This is challenging due to the different gravitational situations [11]. Analysis of existing systems for LEO application shows that these systems are not suitable for long-term missions (> 5 years) [12].…”

Section: Previous Activities and Remaining Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…keeping the water potable for the crew)-how does this affect the plant health and food quality? [11].…”

Section: Previous Activities and Remaining Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

From ice to space: a greenhouse design for Moon or Mars based on a prototype deployed in Antarctica

et al. 2020

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The future of human space exploration is aimed at long-term missions to Moon and Mars. Currently, plans are elaborated by NASA, ESA, CNSA and others for a return to the lunar environment within the next decade as an intermediate step towards the goal of reaching the surface of Mars. For sustenance and crew comfort the crew of such long-duration missions should be provided with fresh food on the lunar or Martian surface. Due to the associated power demand, the required resources and technological complexity, this is a major challenge for this kind of missions. To continuously provide fresh food without the need for cargo transfer from Earth towards Moon or Mars an on-site greenhouse system is required, producing the fresh food in situ. The associated effort and cost for all resources to be transported to the base of operation prohibit any waste of resources, requiring a system operating in a (nearly) closed loop. Developing and validating a prototype for an effective and efficient greenhouse, labeled future exploration greenhouse (FEG) for space exploration has been the goal of the EDEN ISS project, funded by the EU, in the past 4 years. This paper shows the results of a design elaboration of the FEG into a greenhouse for planetary deployment on Moon or Mars. Guided by lessons learned from operating the FEG in Antarctica for one year and based on assumptions concerning the mission scenario, e.g. assuming an existing base infrastructure on-site, the presented design incorporates a plant growth area which is more than a factor of two larger than the prototype. The total mass of the cylindrical system, including equipment required during launch, transfer and landing, is about 19 mT, fitting into a Falcon 9 launcher. The versatile design is compatible with a wide variety of mission scenarios, e.g. ESA’s Moon Village, and currently public mission plans.

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“…As an alternative, it has been proposed that astronauts could grow some of their food during the journey to Mars to supplement a smaller payload of prepackaged food (Bayram et al., 2020; Monje et al., 2019; Zabel, Bamsey, Schubert, & Tajmar, 2016). Currently, neither of these approaches are acceptable (Anderson et al., 2017). Another concern with food supply is that, from long‐term studies on the ISS, astronauts do not achieve their required daily calorie intake (Heer et al., 2000; Smith, Zwart, & Heer, 2015b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors affecting flavor perception in space: Does the spacecraft environment influence food intake by astronauts?

Taylor¹,

Beauchamp

Briand

et al. 2020

Comp Rev Food Sci Food Safe

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The intention to send a crewed mission to Mars involves a huge amount of planning to ensure a safe and successful mission. Providing adequate amounts of food for the crew is a major task, but 20 years of feeding astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) have resulted in a good knowledge base. A crucial observation from the ISS is that astronauts typically consume only 80% of their daily calorie requirements when in space. This is despite daily exercise regimes that keep energy usage at very similar levels to those found on Earth. This calorie deficit seems to have little effect on astronauts who spend up to 12 months on the ISS, but given that a mission to Mars would take 30 to 36 months to complete, there is concern that a calorie deficit over this period may lead to adverse effects in crew members. The key question is why astronauts undereat when they have a supply of food designed to fully deliver their nutritional needs. This review focuses on evidence from astronauts that foods taste different in space, compared to on Earth. The underlying hypothesis is that conditions in space may change the perceived flavor of the food, and this flavor change may, in turn, lead to underconsumption by astronauts. The key areas investigated in this review for their potential impact on food intake are the effects of food shelf life, physiological changes, noise, air and water quality on the perception of food flavor, as well as the link between food flavor and food intake.

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Key Gaps for Enabling Plant Growth in Future Missions

Cited by 16 publications

References 19 publications

Hardware Validation of the Advanced Plant Habitat on ISS: Canopy Photosynthesis in Reduced Gravity

Hardware Validation of the Advanced Plant Habitat on ISS: Canopy Photosynthesis in Reduced Gravity

From ice to space: a greenhouse design for Moon or Mars based on a prototype deployed in Antarctica

Factors affecting flavor perception in space: Does the spacecraft environment influence food intake by astronauts?

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