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At least 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Bioregenerative life-support systems

Long-duration future habitation of space involving great distances from Earth and/or large crew sizes (eg, lunar outpost, Mars base) will require a controlled ecological life-support system (CELSS) to simultaneously revitalize atmosphere (liberate oxygen and fix carbon dioxide), purify water (via transpiration), and generate human food (for a vegetarian diet). Photosynthetic higher plants and algae will provide the essential functions of biomass productivity in a CELSS, and a combination of physicochemical and bioregenerative processes will be used to regenerate renewable resources from waste materials. Crop selection criteria for a CELSS include nutritional use characteristics as well as horticultural characteristics. Cereals, legumes, and oilseed crops are used to provide the major macronutrients for the CELSS diet. A National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Specialized Center of Research and Training (NSCORT) was established at Purdue University to establish proof of the concept of the sustainability of a CELSS. The Biosphere 2 project in Arizona is providing a model for predicted and unpredicted situations that arise as a result of closure in a complex natural ecosystem.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗
NASA NTRS2004

Advanced Life Support Project: Crop Experiments at Kennedy Space Center

Crop production systems provide bioregenerative technologies to complement human crew life support requirements on long duration space missions. Kennedy Space Center has lead NASA's research on crop production systems that produce high value fresh foods, provide atmospheric regeneration, and perform water processing. As the emphasis on early missions to Mars has developed, our research focused on modular, scalable systems for transit missions, which can be developed into larger autonomous, bioregenerative systems for subsequent surface missions. Components of these scalable systems will include development of efficient light generating or collecting technologies, low mass plant growth chambers, and capability to operate in the high energy background radiation and reduced atmospheric pressures of space. These systems will be integrated with air, water, and thermal subsystems in an operational system. Extensive crop testing has been done for both staple and salad crops, but limited data is available on specific cultivar selection and breadboard testing to meet nominal Mars mission profiles of a 500-600 day surface mission. The recent research emphasis at Kennedy Space Center has shifted from staple crops, such as wheat, soybean and rice, toward short cycle salad crops such as lettuce, onion, radish, tomato, pepper, and strawberry. This paper will review the results of crop experiments to support the Exploration Initiative and the ongoing development of supporting technologies, and give an overview of capabilities of the newly opened Space Life Science (SLS) Lab at Kennedy Space Center. The 9662 square m (104,000 square ft) SLS Lab was built by the State of Florida and supports all NASA research that had been performed in Hanger-L. In addition to NASA research, the SLS Lab houses the Florida Space Research Institute (FSRI), responsible for co-managing the facility, and the University of Florida (UF) has established the Space Agriculture and Biotechnology Research and Education (SABRE) Center with several faculty.

Sager, John C.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Environmental control and life support system: Analysis of STS-1

The capability of the orbiter environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) to support vehicle cooling requirements in the event of cabin pressure reduction to 9 psia was evaluated, using the Orbiter versions of the shuttle environmental consumbles usage requirement evaluation (SECURE) program, and using heat load input data developed by the spacecraft electrical power simulator (SEPS) program. The SECURE model used in the analysis, the timeline and ECLSS configuration used in formulating the analysis, and the results of the analysis are presented. The conclusion which may be drawn drom these results. is summarized. There are no significant thermal problems with the proposed mission. There are, however, several procedures which could be optimized for better performance: setting the cabin HX air bypass and the interchanger water bypass to the zero flow position is of questionable efficacy; the cabin air pressure monitoring procedure should be re-evaluated; and the degree of equipment power down specified for this analysis and no problems were noted.

Steines, G.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Nutrition and food technology for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS)

Food technology requirements and a nutritional strategy for a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) to provide adequate food in an acceptable form in future space missions are discussed. The establishment of nutritional requirements, dietary goals, and a food service system to deliver acceptable foods in a safe and healthy form and the development of research goals and priorities were the main objectives of the study.

Glaser, P. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Preparation and analysis of standardized waste samples for Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS)

The preparation and analysis of standardized waste samples for controlled ecological life support systems (CELSS) are considered. Analysis of samples from wet oxidation experiments, the development of ion chromatographic techniques utilizing conventional high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipment, and an investigation of techniques for interfacing an ion chromatograph (IC) with an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICPOES) are discussed.

Carden, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Environmental control and life support testing at the Marshall Space Flight Center

The Space Station Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) test program at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is addressed. The immediate goals and current activities of the test program are discussed. Also described are the Core Module Integration Facility (CMIF) and the initial ECLSS test configuration. Future plans for the ECLSS test program and the CMIF are summarized.

Schunk, Richard G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Coupling plant growth and waste recycling systems in a controlled life support system (CELSS)

The development of bioregenerative systems as part of the Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) program depends, in large part, on the ability to recycle inorganic nutrients, contained in waste material, into plant growth systems. One significant waste (resource) stream is inedible plant material. This research compared wheat growth in hydroponic solutions based on inorganic salts (modified Hoagland's) with solutions based on the soluble fraction of inedible wheat biomass (leachate). Recycled nutrients in leachate solutions provided the majority of mineral nutrients for plant growth, although additions of inorganic nutrients to leachate solutions were necessary. Results indicate that plant growth and waste recyling systems can be effectively coupled within CELSS based on equivalent wheat yield in leachate and Hoagland solutions, and the rapid mineralization of waste organic material in the hydroponic systems. Selective enrichment for microbial communities able to mineralize organic material within the leachate was necessary to prevent accumulation of dissolved organic matter in leachate-based solutions. Extensive analysis of microbial abundance, growth, and activity in the hydroponic systems indicated that addition of soluble organic material from plants does not cause excessive microbial growth or 'biofouling', and helped define the microbially-mediated flux of carbon in hydroponic solutions.

Garland, Jay L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Controlled ecological life support systems (CELSS) flight experimentation

The NASA CELSS program has the goal of developing life support systems for humans in space based on the use of higher plants. The program has supported research at universities with a primary focus of increasing the productivity of candidate crops plants. To understand the effects of the space environment on plant productivity, the CELSS Test Facility (CTF) has been conceived as an instrument that will permit the evaluation of plant productivity on Space Station Freedom. The CTF will maintain specific environmental conditions and collect data on gas exchange rates and biomass accumulation over the growth period of several crop plants grown sequentially from seed to harvest. The science requirements for the CTF will be described, as will current design concepts and specific technology requirements for operation in micro-gravity.

Kliss, M.↗
NASA NTRS1996

An Intelligent Crop Planning Tool for Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems

This paper describes a crop planning tool developed for the Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) project which is in the research phases at various NASA facilities. The Crop Planning Tool was developed to assist in the understanding of the long term applications of a CELSS environment. The tool consists of a crop schedule generator as well as a crop schedule simulator. The importance of crop planning tools such as the one developed is discussed. The simulator is outlined in detail while the schedule generator is touched upon briefly. The simulator consists of data inputs, plant and human models, and various other CELSS activity models such as food consumption and waste regeneration. The program inputs such as crew data and crop states are discussed. References are included for all nominal parameters used. Activities including harvesting, planting, plant respiration, and human respiration are discussed using mathematical models. Plans provided to the simulator by the plan generator are evaluated for their 'fitness' to the CELSS environment with an objective function based upon daily reservoir levels. Sample runs of the Crop Planning Tool and future needs for the tool are detailed.

Whitaker, Laura O.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Environmental Control and Life Support (ECLS) Hardware Commonality for Exploration Vehicles

In August 2011, the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) technical community, along with associated stakeholders, held a workshop to review NASA s plans for Exploration missions and vehicles with two objectives: revisit the Exploration Atmospheres Working Group (EAWG) findings from 2006, and discuss preliminary ECLSS architecture concepts and technology choices for Exploration vehicles, identifying areas for potential common hardware or technologies to be utilized. Key considerations for selection of vehicle design total pressure and percent oxygen include operational concepts for extravehicular activity (EVA) and prebreathe protocols, materials flammability, and controllability within pressure and oxygen ranges. New data for these areas since the 2006 study were presented and discussed, and the community reached consensus on conclusions and recommendations for target design pressures for each Exploration vehicle concept. For the commonality study, the workshop identified many areas of potential commonality across the Exploration vehicles as well as with heritage International Space Station (ISS) and Shuttle hardware. Of the 36 ECLSS functions reviewed, 16 were considered to have strong potential for commonality, 13 were considered to have some potential commonality, and 7 were considered to have limited potential for commonality due to unique requirements or lack of sufficient heritage hardware. These findings, which will be utilized in architecture studies and budget exercises going forward, are presented in detail.

Carrasquillo, Robyn↗
NASA NTRS2002

Performance of advanced trauma life support procedures in microgravity

BACKGROUND: Medical operations on the International Space Station will emphasize the stabilization and transport of critically injured personnel and so will need to be capable of advanced trauma life support (ATLS). METHODS: We evaluated the ATLS invasive procedures in the microgravity environment of parabolic flight using a porcine animal model. Included in the procedures evaluated were artificial ventilation, intravenous infusion, laceration closure, tracheostomy, Foley catheter drainage, chest tube insertion, peritoneal lavage, and the use of telemedicine methods for procedural direction. RESULTS: Artificial ventilation was performed and appeared to be unaltered from the 1-G environment. Intravenous infusion, laceration closure, percutaneous dilational tracheostomy, and Foley catheter drainage were achieved without difficulty. Chest tube insertion and drainage were performed with no more difficulty than in the 1-G environment due to the ability to restrain patient, operator and supplies. A Heimlich valve and Sorenson drainage system were both used to provide for chest tube drainage collection with minimal equipment, without the risk of atmospheric contamination, and with the capability to auto-transfuse blood drained from a hemothorax. The use of telemedicine in chest tube insertion was demonstrated to be useful and feasible. Peritoneal lavage using a percutaneous technique, although requiring less training to perform, was found to be dangerous in weightlessness due to the additional pressure of the bowel on the anterior abdominal wall creating a high risk of bowel perforation. CONCLUSIONS: The performance of ATLS procedures in microgravity appears to be feasible with the exception of diagnostic peritoneal lavage. Minor modifications to equipment and techniques are required in microgravity to effect surgical drainage in the presence of altered fluid dynamics, to prevent atmospheric contamination, and to provide for the restraint requirements. A parabolic simulation system was developed for equipment and procedure verification, physiological research, and possible crew medical officer training in the future.

Parabolic Flight↗
NASA NTRS2001

Bioregenerative Life Support Systems Test Complex (Bio-Plex) Food Processing System: A Dual System

A Bioregenerative Life Support Test Complex, BIO-Plex, is currently being constructed at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX. This facility will attempt to answer the questions involved in developing a lunar or planetary base. The Food Processing System (FPS) of the BIO-Plex is responsible for supplying food to the crew in coordination with the chosen mission scenario. Long duration space missions require development of both a Transit Food System and of a Lunar or Planetary Food System. These two systems are intrinsically different since the first one will be utilized in the transit vehicle in microgravity conditions with mostly resupplied foods, while the second will be used in conditions of partial gravity (hypogravity) to process foods from crops grown in the facility. The Transit Food System will consist of prepackaged food of extended shelf life. It will be supplemented with salad crops that will be consumed fresh. Microgravity imposes significant limitation on the ability to handle food and allows only for minimal processing. The challenge is to develop food systems similar to the International Space Station or Shuttle Food Systems but with a shelf life of 3 - 5 years. The Lunar or Planetary Food System will allow for food processing of crops due to the presence of some gravitational force (1/6 to 1/3 that of Earth). Crops such as wheat, soybean, rice, potato, peanut, and salad crops, will be processed to final products to provide a nutritious and acceptable diet for the crew. Not only are constraints imposed on the FPS from the crops (e.g., crop variation, availability, storage and shelf-life) but also significant requirements are present for the crew meals (e.g., RDA, high quality, safety, variety). The FPS becomes a fulcrum creating the right connection from crops to crew meals while dealing with issues of integration within a closed self-regenerative system (e.g., safe processing, waste production, volumes, air contaminations, water usage, etc.). Options for the first test, for duration of 120 days, currently scheduled for late 2003 are outlined.

Perchonok, Michele↗
NASA NTRS1975

Life-support systems for interplanetary spacecraft and space stations for long-term use

Integrated regenerative life support systems in which the by-products of one system become useful material for another are considered. Regeneration or reclamation of water and the principal atmospheric gases, and elimination or disposition of waste products are the principal functions of such systems. A modular system concept is described. Features of this system include: commonality (for spares reduction), maintainability, overall computer-monitored functioning, and onboard repair and replacement tasks in the event of failure.

Jones, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Space Station environmental control and life support system distribution and loop closure studies

The NASA Space Station's environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) encompasses functional elements concerned with temperature and humidity control, atmosphere control and supply, atmosphere revitalization, fire detection and suppression, water recovery and management, waste management, and EVA support. Attention is presently given to functional and physical module distributions of the ECLSS among these elements, with a view to resource requirements and safety implications. A strategy of physical distribution coupled with functional centralization is for the air revitalization and water reclamation systems. Also discussed is the degree of loop closure desirable in the initial operational capability status Space Station's oxygen and water reclamation loops.

Humphries, William R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Status of the Space Station environmental control and life support system design concept

The current status of the Space Station (SS) environmental control and life support system (ECLSS) design is outlined. The concept has been defined at the subsystem level. Data supporting these definitions are provided which identify general configuratioons for all modules. Requirements, guidelines and assumptions used in generating these configurations are detailed. The basic 2 US module 'core' Space Station is addressed along with system synergism issues and early man-tended and future growth considerations. Along with these basic studies, also addressed here are options related to variation in the 'core' module makeup and more austere Station concepts such as commonality, automation and design to cost.

Ray, C. D.↗