Quincy, Charlie | Engineering Papers

NASA NTRS2017

Key Gaps for Enabling Plant Growth in Future Missions

Growing plants to provide food or psychological benefits to crewmembers is a common vision for the future of human spaceflight, often represented in media and in serious concept studies. The complexity of controlled environment agriculture, and plant growth in microgravity have and continue to be the subject of dedicated scientific research. However, actually implementing these systems in a way that will be cost effective, efficient, and sustainable for future space missions is a complex, multi-disciplinary problem. Key questions exist in many areas: human medical research in nutrition and psychology, horticulture, plant physiology and microbiology, multi-phase microgravity fluid physics, hardware design and technology development, and system design, operations and mission planning. This paper describes key knowledge gaps identified by a multi-disciplinary working group within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It also begins to identify solutions to the simpler questions identified by the group based on work initiated in 2017. Growing plants to provide food or psychological benefits to crewmembers is a common vision for the future of human spaceflight, often represented in media and in serious concept studies. The complexity of controlled environment agriculture, and plant growth in microgravity have and continue to be the subject of dedicated scientific research. However, actually implementing these systems in a way that will be cost effective, efficient, and sustainable for future space missions is a complex, multi-disciplinary problem. Key questions exist in many areas: human medical research in nutrition and psychology, horticulture, plant physiology and microbiology, multi-phase microgravity fluid physics, hardware design and technology development, and system design, operations and mission planning. This paper describes key knowledge gaps identified by a multi-disciplinary working group within the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). It also begins to identify solutions to the simpler questions identified by the group based on work initiated in 2017.

Anderson, Molly↗

NASA NTRS2007

ISS National Laboratory

No abstract available

Quincy, Charlie↗

NASA NTRS2002

Analysis of Wading Bird use of Impounded Wetland Habitat on the Kennedy Space Center/Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, 1987-1998

This report summarizes results of the first eleven years of monthly aerial surveys of wading bird use of foraging habitats within impoundments on the Kennedy Space Center/Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Some impoundments were used much more heavily by wading birds than were others. Analysis suggests that an increase in interspersion of open water and vegetated habitats is preferred foraging habitat. Many wading bird species increased their use of vegetated habitat in Fall and Winter when impoundments were flooded. The mean number of wading birds per survey was greatest during the Pre-nesting and Nesting seasons, declined during Post-nesting season, and was lowest during Winter when water levels within impoundments were high. During these times, shallow habitat along the IRL shoreline provided alternative habitats for wading birds. Various measures of monthly precipitation and impoundment water level were well correlated with the numbers of wading birds observed. Numbers of nesting attempts was steady during the study period, with the exception of an unusually high number of attempts in 1990. White Ibis accounted for over half of all wading bird nests counted. The mean number of nests per colony decreased during the study period, and the number of individual colonies increased.

Stolen, Eric D.↗