Space Farming - NASA · 2017-07-19 · Space Farming = f ( Plant/Microbial Biology & Engineering )...
Transcript of Space Farming - NASA · 2017-07-19 · Space Farming = f ( Plant/Microbial Biology & Engineering )...
Space FarmingChallenges & Opportunities
O. Monje
Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899
IFT 2017, June 25 -28, Las Vegas, NV
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20170006144 2020-05-06T11:41:47+00:00Z
Earth = Our “Bioregenerative” Life Support System
Wheeler, 2016
On Earth, explorers ‘live off the land’• Crew = 33
• 2 years – elk hunting and fishing
• Learned food technology from native tribes
In space, explorers need in situ food production• Space Farming enables colonization of space
• Sustainable: minimize logistics of resupply
• Supplies: Light, CO2, O2, Nutrients, Water, Soil, Seeds, Plant chamber
• Crew Psychological well-being: green Earth
• Food Systems: palatable, nutritious and safe source of fresh food (limited shelf-life)
LADA
VEGGIE
Task: adapt 1g agriculture to fractional g locations
Opportunities: Commercial Uses of Cislunar Space
NASA – Prepares for missions to Mars
Human Exploration and Operations Exploration Objectives, 2016
Deep Space Gateway – crewed spaceport in lunar orbit – access lunar surface & deep space
Deep Space Transport – reusable vehicle to travel to Mars and return to the gateway
Commercial uses of Cislunar Space
BEAM – Bigelow Expandable Activity Module
ESA – Moon Village & Amazon Moon Deliveries
Space Farming = f ( Plant/Microbial Biology & Engineering )
Research Issues • Sensory mechanisms: Gravity sensing and response to mechanisms in cells, plants & microbes.
• Radiation effects on plants/microbes
• Plant/microbial growth under altered atmospheric pressures
• Spaceflight syndromes: Responses to integrated spaceflight environment, microbial ecosystems and environments, changes in virulence of pathogens.
• Food safety
• Plant – Microbe Interactions
Hardware Issues • Performance: Mitigate spaceflight syndromes for adequate plant growth
• Mass, power & volume restrictions
• Role in life support systems
CO2
H2O
O2
Radiation
Radiative
heat transfer
Buoyancy-driven
Convection – 1 g
CO2H2O
O2
Radiation
Radiative
heat transfer
Buoyancy-driven
Convection – 0 g
The absence of gravity induces physical effects that alter the microenvironment surrounding plants and their organs.
These effects include: increased boundary layers surrounding plant organs and the absence of convective mixing of atmospheric gases. In addition, altered behavior of liquids and gases is responsible for phase separation and for dominance of capillary forces in the absence of gravitational forces (moisture redistribution)
Space-Flight Environment
Monje et al. 2003 Jones and Or, 1998
Plant Growth Systems
Zabel et al. Life Sci. Space Res. (2016)
Light300 µmol/m2s
Low Light
APH
Salad Machine
Light600-1000 µmol/m2s
Veggie
Uni
vers
ities
Ames
Kennedy
Johnson
Small Companies
NASA’s Bioregenerative Life Support Testing
12
1980 1990 2000CELSS Program ALS / ELS Program
Algae Closed Systems Salad Machine
Wheat (Utah State)
Purdue
NSCORT
Potato (Wisconsin)
Lettuce (Purdue)
Soybean (NC State)
Sweetpotato / Peanut (Tuskegee)
Rutgers
NSCORT
Large, Closed System NFT Lighting Waste Recycling Salad spp. Habitat Testing
Solid Media Pressure Human / Integration
N-Nutrition (UC Davis)
Gas Ex./Ethylene (Utah State)
MIR Wheat (Utah St.)
STS-73
Potato
Leaves
BIO-PlexNever Completed
Biomass Production Chamber
Onion (Texas Tech)
Hypobaria (TAMU)
ISS Mizuna
Utah St./KSC
Lunar Greenhouse (Arizona)
2010LSHS Program
Purdue
NSCORT LEDs (Purdue)
Habitat Demo Unit
Plant Atrium (KSC)
Advanced
Plant
Habitat
ISS
ISS
Wheat
Expmt
SBIRs—Sensors, LEDs, Zeolite, BPS, VEGGIE, Aeroponics, Solar Conc., HELIAC
ISS VEGGIE
Lettuce (KSC)
2030
Recirculating Hydroponics with Crops– Record yields vs Field
Conserve Water & Nutrients
Eliminate Water Stress
Optimize Mineral Nutrition
Facilitate Harvesting
Will this work in partial g?
Wheat / Utah State
Soybean
KSC
Sweetpotato
Tuskegee
Rice / Purdue
Wheeler et al., 1999. Acta Hort.
Cultivar Comparisons and Crop Breeding
Several Universities:
Cultivar Comparisonswheat, potato, soybean,
lettuce, sweetpotato, tomato
←
Utah State:
Super Dwarf Wheat
Apogee Wheat
Perigee Wheat
Super Dwarf Rice
Tuskegee:
ASP GM-Sweetpotato
←
Dwarf Pepper ↑ and Tomato ↓
Plants for Future Space Missions
International Space Station (plant experiments—salad crops)
Lunar Outpost (supplemental foods)
Martian Outpost / Colonies
Lunar Lander (no plants)
(supplemental foods ⇨ autonomous life support)
2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
Crew Exploration Vehicle (supplemental crops Mars transit)
Bioregenerative Life Support
Integrate physico-chemical and plant-based life support systems
Nakamura, Monje & Bugbee AAIA 2013
Salad Machine – Transit / Orbit• Scale – Expand from Experimental to Production
• 150 g/d = daily: 25 g salad for Crew of 6• 1 m2 Planting area
• Performance criteria:• Productivity – maximize• Consistency – robust, repeatable• Crew Time – minimal
• Spacecraft• Cabin air – CO2, VOCs• Limited Power & Volume• Water load to ECLSS• Microgravity Effects
* Soil Amendments ISRU
Plants
Soil
Inedible
Edible
Biochar / Compost
CO2
RegolithCH4
O2
hv
CO2
CDRA
Sabatier
Vent
Biomass
*
Make Soil on Surface Systems
Questions?
Light, Productivity, and Crop Area Requirements
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Light (mol m-2 day-1)
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a R
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(m
2/ p
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)
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5
10
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20
25
30
Pro
du
cti
vit
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g m
-2d
ay
-1)ProductivityArea
0
20
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140
Bright Sunny
Day on Mars
Bright Sunny
Day on Earth
NASA’s Biomass Production Chamber (BPC)