Supplemental Food Production With Plants: A Review of NASA Research

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.

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Challenges for a Sustainable Food Production System on Board of the International Space Station: A Technical Review

Agronomy ◽

10.3390/agronomy10050687 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 687

Author(s):

Petronia Carillo ◽

Biagio Morrone ◽

Giovanna Marta Fusco ◽

Stefania De Pascale ◽

Youssef Rouphael

Keyword(s):

International Space Station ◽

Life Support ◽

Space Station ◽

Space Missions ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

International Space ◽

Physical Constraints ◽

Fresh Food ◽

Long Duration ◽

Lighting Systems

The possibility of prolonging space missions—and consequently the permanence of humans in space—depends on the possibility of providing them with an adequate supply of fresh foods to meet their nutritional requirements. This would allow space travelers to mitigate health risks associated with exposure to space radiation, microgravity and psychological stress. In this review, we attempt to critically summarize existing studies with the aim of suggesting possible solutions to overcome the challenges to develop a bio-regenerative life support system (BLSS) that can contribute to life support, supplying food and O2, while removing CO2 on the International Space Station (ISS). We describe the physical constraints and energy requirements for ISS farming in relation to space and energy resources, the problems related to lighting systems and criteria for selecting plants suitable for farming in space and microgravity. Clearly, the dimensions of a growth hardware that can be placed on ISS do not allow to produce enough fresh food to supplement the stored, packaged diet of astronauts; however, experimentation on ISS is pivotal for implementing plant growth systems and paves the way for the next long-duration space missions, including those in cis-lunar space and to the lunar surface.

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Initial survey on fresh fruit and vegetable preferences of Neumayer Station crew members: Input to crop selection and psychological benefits of space-based plant production systems

Open Agriculture ◽

10.1515/opag-2016-0023 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

M. Mauerer ◽

D. Schubert ◽

P. Zabel ◽

M. Bamsey ◽

E. Kohlberg ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Support ◽

Production Systems ◽

Higher Plants ◽

Plant Production ◽

Life Support System ◽

Psychological Benefits ◽

Crop Selection ◽

Fresh Food ◽

Selection For ◽

Initial Survey

AbstractThe inclusion of higher plants in bio-regenerative life support systems has been suggested to contribute to a nutritious menu, increase food acceptability and provide psychological benefits to the crew. In 2017, the EDEN ISS project will deploy a greenhouse module to the Neumayer Station III in Antarctica. This system will be used to advance bio-regenerative life support system technologies and operations. An initial survey was conducted to improve crop selection for the EDEN ISS greenhouse module by further investigating the aspects of food acceptability and psychological benefits of crop cultivation. Former members of the overwintering crews of the three Neumayer stations were asked about their fresh food and vegetable preferences and about further aspects concerning Antarctic plant production. Results confirm the benefits of growing higher plants in isolated and confined environments and offer insight on the importance of crop selection aspects like taste, texture, pungency and colour.

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Identification of Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria Within Space Crop Production Systems

Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences ◽

10.3389/fspas.2021.735834 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

David Handy ◽

Mary E. Hummerick ◽

Anirudha R. Dixit ◽

Anna Maria Ruby ◽

Gioia Massa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Crop Production ◽

Plant Pathogens ◽

Life Support ◽

Production Systems ◽

Space Station ◽

Fungal Species ◽

Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria ◽

Plant Growth Promoting ◽

Growth Promoting

As we establish colonies beyond Earth, resupply missions will become increasingly difficult, logistically speaking, and less frequent. As a result, the on-site production of plants will be mission critical for both food production as well as complementing life support systems. Previous research on space crop production aboard the International Space Station (ISS) has determined that the spaceflight environment, though capable of supporting plant growth, is inherently stressful to plants. The combined stressors of this environment limits yield by inhibiting growth, as well as increasing susceptibility to infection by plant pathogens such as Fusarium spp. We propose that a consortium of space-viable, plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) could assist in mitigating challenges to plant growth in a sustainable fashion. Here, we utilize biochemical and phenotypic assessments to identify potential PGPB derived from previously acquired isolates from the VEGGIE crop production system aboard the ISS. These assays confirmed the presence of bacteria capable of producing and/or interfering with plant hormones, facilitating plant uptake of high-value target nutrients for plants such as iron and phosphorus, and able to inhibit the growth of problematic fungal species. We discuss our findings with regards to their potential to support plant growth aboard spaceflight platforms as well as the Moon and Mars.

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LETTUCE SEEDLING RESPONSE TO DETERGENTS RECOMMENDED FOR SPACE TRAVEL

HortScience ◽

10.21273/hortsci.27.6.656a ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 27 (6) ◽

pp. 656a-656 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Catherine Greene ◽

David Bubenheim ◽

Wade Berry

Keyword(s):

Life Support ◽

Pure Water ◽

Primary Root ◽

Space Station ◽

Threshold Concentration ◽

Space Environment ◽

Space Travel ◽

Lettuce Seedling ◽

Lettuce Seeds

Water contributes approximately 90% of the life support consumables in a closed space environment, therefore, regeneration of pure water from waste streams is important for long term space travel. Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) will rely on plants to produce food, oxygen, consume CO2 and purify water. Igepon TC42, Amide coco N-methyl N-2-sulphoethyl sodium salt, is the main ingredient of the soap recommended for showering and hand washing aboard Space Station Freedom. To determine the soap concentration which causes plant toxicity, lettuce seeds were germinated in 0.1 strength modified Hoagland's nutrient solution and a series of increasing concentrations of Igepon. After 5 days, the seedlings were examined and primary root length measured. The dose response curve indicates an Igepon acute toxicity threshold of 0.2 g l-1 Below the threshold concentration the curve is similar to that of the control, but drops linearly upon reaching the toxic threshold. Seedlings exposed to concentrations of soap greater than the toxic threshold exhibited root damage characterized by the browning of cells in bands above the root cap resulting in reduced growth rates. The damaged cells enlarged becoming round in appearance prior to departing from adjacent cells. The underlying cells appeared clear and uniform making up a thinner, more fragile root mass when compared to undamaged root regions.

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Evaluating the lettuce metatranscriptome with MinION sequencing for future spaceflight food production applications

npj Microgravity ◽

10.1038/s41526-021-00151-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Natasha J. Haveman ◽

Christina L. M. Khodadad ◽

Anirudha R. Dixit ◽

Artemis S. Louyakis ◽

Gioia D. Massa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Production ◽

Transcriptional Activity ◽

Life Support ◽

Critical Role ◽

Space Station ◽

Orbit Space ◽

Potential Method ◽

Plant Health ◽

Psychological Benefits ◽

Sequencing Platform

AbstractHealthy plants are vital for successful, long-duration missions in space, as they provide the crew with life support, food production, and psychological benefits. The microorganisms that associate with plant tissues play a critical role in improving plant health and production. To that end, we developed a methodology to investigate the transcriptional activities of the microbiome of red romaine lettuce, a key salad crop that was grown under International Space Station (ISS)-like conditions. Microbial transcripts enriched from host–microbe total RNA were sequenced using the Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencing platform. Results show that this enrichment approach was highly reproducible and could be an effective approach for the on-site detection of microbial transcriptional activity. Our results demonstrate the feasibility of using metatranscriptomics of enriched microbial RNA as a potential method for on-site monitoring of the transcriptional activity of crop microbiomes, thereby helping to facilitate and maintain plant health for on-orbit space food production.

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Phosphorus: Past History and Contributions to the Global Food Supply

10.24047/bc10316 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 103 (1) ◽

pp. 6-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Terry Roberts

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Supply ◽

Food Production ◽

Production Systems ◽

Past History ◽

Phosphate Fertilizer ◽

Global Food ◽

Global Food Supply

Since its early rudimentary forms, phosphate fertilizer has developed in step with our understanding of successful food production systems. Recognized as essential to life, the responsible use P in agriculture remains key to food security.

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Analysis and calculation of the process of low-pressure reverse osmosis during recycling of hygienic water

Space engineering and technology ◽

10.33950/spacetech-2308-7625-2019-2-28-36 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 28-36

Author(s):

Leonid S. Bobe ◽

Nikolay A. Salnikov

Keyword(s):

Mass Transfer ◽

Reverse Osmosis ◽

Life Support ◽

Space Station ◽

Low Pressure ◽

Operating Pressure ◽

Life Support System ◽

Cleaning Agent ◽

The Difference ◽

Pressure Channel

Analysis and calculation have been conducted of the process of low-pressure reverse osmosis in the membrane apparatus of the system for recycling hygiene water for the space station. The paper describes the physics of the reverse osmosis treatment and determines the motive force of the process, which is the difference of effective pressures (operating pressure minus osmotic pressure) in the solution near the surface of the membrane and in the purified water. It is demonstrated that the membrane scrubbing action is accompanied by diffusion outflow of the cleaning agent components away from the membrane. The mass transfer coefficient and the difference of concentrations (and, accordingly, the difference of osmotic pressures) in the boundary layer of the pressure channel can be determined using an extended analogy between mass transfer and heat transfer. A procedure has been proposed and proven in an experiment for calculating the throughput of a reverse osmosis apparatus purifying the hygiene water obtained through the use of a cleaning agent used in sanitation and housekeeping procedures on Earth. Key words: life support system, hygiene water, water processing, low-pressure reverse osmosis, space station.

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Potential Use of Indoor Living Walls in Canadian Dwellings

J ◽

10.3390/j4020010 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 116-130

Author(s):

Daria Smolova ◽

Avi Friedman

Keyword(s):

Global Warming ◽

Food Production ◽

Air Purification ◽

Traditional Food ◽

Production Chain ◽

Environmental Threats ◽

Fresh Food ◽

Living Wall ◽

Potential Use ◽

Potential Integration

Current social and environmental challenges have led to the rethinking of residential designs. Global warming, food insecurity, and, as a result, costly fresh produce are some of the causes of the reconsideration. Moreover, with obligatory isolation following the global COVID-19 pandemic, some are realizing the importance of nature and air quality in homes. This paper explores the potential integration of indoor living walls (ILWs) in Canadian homes for agricultural and air purification purposes. By reviewing a number of case studies, this paper investigates how the development of such walls can alter the traditional food production chain, while reducing environmental threats. The findings show that current indoor living wall practices can be transformed into a useful source of fresh food, and, to some degree, alter traditional food supply. They can also help in creating inexpensive methods of air purification.

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