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At least 19 records

CESO 22-4: Parabolic and Suborbital Glovebox in Support of Space Crop Production

Space crop production research approaches and technologies can be validated for microgravity using parabolic or suborbital flight opportunities, and this will save considerable risk, time, and money for implementing new strategies in spaceflight. While the durations of microgravity in these tests are insufficient to grow crops, there are numerous examples of the value of microgravity testing for subsystems such as plant water and nutrient delivery, where multiphase fluid flow can be elucidated in short durations, and horticultural operations, such as harvesting and produce sanitation where containment and contamination can be assessed. Containment in any operational test is essential, as crop operations involve fluids and biological samples, which are potential hazards. This project consists of designing, developing, and constructing a parabolic/suborbital glovebox for experiment containment. The design involves modifications and upgrades to an existing glovebox developed at the University of Louisville. The University of Louisville glovebox was used by KSC researchers for space crop parabolic flight tests in 2021, and lessons learned from that testing have driven design modifications and improvements in the KSC-generated glovebox. Requirements were identified, parts were ordered, an operational science glovebox was fabricated, and a detailed materials specification list was generated. Analyses that are required for flight, remain to be performed to meet airworthiness requirements, and that work will have to be conducted in the future before use in flight.

Food Production↗

Gaps List KSC Space Crop Production Project Scientist: Interview Evaluation

The Space Crop Production (SCP) at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is aimed at achieving nutrient supplementation and moving towards caloric independence from Earth by growing crops for astronauts. However, growing crops outside of Earth’s orbit creates many new challenges. The KCS SCP Project Scientists have developed a method of organizing these challenges, called the Gaps List. This Gaps List is a dynamic, taxonomically arranged list of missing knowledge and technologies needed to reach production goals. The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the effectiveness and current research coverage of the Gaps List by using it to document the KSC SCP Program research. In evaluating the research, it was determined that several needs within the SCP Program that are not being met, and many deficiencies within the Gaps List were encountered. Gaps involving hardware were largely unrecognized by the KSC researchers and the funding sources that would typically support them. The KSC SCP Project will require more engineering and physical sciences support to close those gaps. The Gaps List was found to be out of date and in need of rearrangement. A recommendation from this review was that the Gaps List be reassessed at regular intervals to ensure all gaps and relevant research topics are included. In order to better understand the gaps within the list, any assessment needs to include a measure of priority, dependency and breadth. These measures may be included within or along side the current taxonomical arrangement of the Gaps List.

Space Crop Production↗

Gaps List KSC Space Crop Production Project Scientist: Interview Evaluation

The Space Crop Production (SCP) Program at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is aimed at achieving nutrient supplementation and moving towards caloric independence from Earth by growing crops for astronauts. However, growing crops outside of Earth’s orbit creates many new challenges. The KCS SCP Project Scientists have developed a method of organizing these challenges, called the Gaps List. This Gaps List is a dynamic, taxonomically arranged list of missing knowledge and technologies needed to reach production goals. The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the effectiveness and current research coverage of the Gaps List by using it to document KSC SCP Program research. It was determined that there are several needs within the SCP Program that are not being met, as well as, many deficiencies within the Gaps List. Gaps involving hardware were largely unrecognized by both the KSC researchers and the funding sources that would typically support them. The KSC SCP Project will require more engineering and physical sciences support to fill those gaps. The Gaps List was found to be out of date and in need of rearrangement. A recommendation from this review was that the Gaps List be reassessed at regular intervals to ensure all gaps, and relevant research topics are included. To better understand the gaps within the list, any assessment needs to include a measure of priority, dependency, and breadth. These measures may be included within or alongside the current taxonomical arrangement of the Gaps List.

Chloe Sophia Alexander↗

Gaps List KSC Space Crop Production Project Scientist: Interview Evaluation

The Space Crop Production (SCP) Program at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is aimed at achieving nutrient supplementation and moving towards caloric independence from Earth by growing crops for astronauts. However, growing crops outside of Earth’s orbit creates many new challenges. The KCS SCP Project Scientists have developed a method of organizing these challenges, called the Gaps List. This Gaps List is a dynamic, taxonomically arranged list of missing knowledge and technologies needed to reach production goals. The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the effectiveness and current research coverage of the Gaps List by using it to document KSC SCP Program research. It was determined that there are several needs within the SCP Program that are not being met, as well as, many deficiencies within the Gaps List. Gaps involving hardware were largely unrecognized by both the KSC researchers and the funding sources that would typically support them. The KSC SCP Project will require more engineering and physical sciences support to fill those gaps. The Gaps List was found to be out of date and in need of rearrangement. A recommendation from this review was that the Gaps List be reassessed at regular intervals to ensure all gaps, and relevant research topics are included. To better understand the gaps within the list, any assessment needs to include a measure of priority, dependency, and breadth. These measures may be included within or alongside the current taxonomical arrangement of the Gaps List.

Chloe S. Alexander↗

Space Crop Production

This is an outreach presentation on space crop production and our Veggie experimentation.

Plants↗

Plants in Space & Space Crop Production

A short video presentation on space crop production research and challenges for educators attending the 2024 Space Exploration Educators Conference at Space Center Houston.

Gioia Massa↗

Space Crop Production

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Space Crop Production↗

The Effects of Plasma Application on Radish Seeds with Implications for Space Crop Production

In extended space missions, the astronaut diet will consist mostly of prepackaged foods. This could result in nutritional deficiencies due to the gradual breakdown of certain vitamins. To address this deficiency, fresh produce must be grown from seed during spaceflight. Stored seeds, however, can be vulnerable to microbial contamination which could jeopardize plant health and crop food safety. To alleviate this concern, the current practice is to sanitize seeds on the ground before spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS). Methods of seed sanitization include alcohol soaking and chlorine gas fumigation, which have harmful effects on the environment and human health. Plasma application is a new sanitization approach that avoids these negative side effects while potentially elevating germination rate and improving growth rate; yet plasma application requires specific exposure time, power, and pressure to achieve these benefits. In the present study, Raphanus sativus ‘Cherry Belle’ radish seeds were exposed to either low pressure (Diener) plasma or atmospheric pressure plasma for varying increments of time (30s-1200s). Data collected includes immediate germination rate (viability) and microbial log reduction. Additionally, seeds were stored for later germination rate testing. Microbial assay controls have highlighted variability in initial microbial load between individual seeds, and further work is being performed to determine the standard microbial load of an untreated seed. In some samples, a negative log reduction was observed after plasma treatment encouraging further study to determine if the plasma is perforating the seed coat and releasing endophytic microbes. Treatment with Diener plasma shows promising microbial log reduction, but lower viability. In contrast, treatment with atmospheric pressure plasma offers high viability, but poor microbial log reduction. Further study will aim at determining whether plasma treatment is effective at not only sanitization, but sterilization. This research was funded by a NASA grant at the Kennedy Space Center.

Plasma↗

The Effects of Plasma Application on Radish Seeds with Implications for Space Crop Production

In extended space missions, the astronaut diet will consist mostly of prepackaged foods. This could result in nutritional deficiencies due to the gradual breakdown of certain vitamins. To address this deficiency, fresh produce must be grown from seed during spaceflight. Stored seeds, however, can be vulnerable to microbial contamination which could jeopardize plant health and crop food safety. To alleviate this concern, the current practice is to sanitize seeds on the ground before spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS). Methods of seed sanitization include alcohol soaking and chlorine gas fumigation, which have harmful effects on the environment and human health. Plasma application is a new sanitization approach that avoids these negative side effects while potentially elevating germination rate and improving growth rate; yet plasma application requires specific exposure time, power, and pressure to achieve these benefits. In the present study, Raphanus sativus ‘Cherry Belle’ radish seeds were exposed to either low pressure (Diener) plasma or atmospheric pressure plasma for varying increments of time (30s-1200s). Data collected includes immediate germination rate (viability) and microbial log reduction. Additionally, seeds were stored for later germination rate testing. Microbial assay controls have highlighted variability in initial microbial load between individual seeds, and further work is being performed to determine the standard microbial load of an untreated seed. In some samples, a negative log reduction was observed after plasma treatment encouraging further study to determine if the plasma is perforating the seed coat and releasing endophytic microbes. Treatment with Diener plasma shows promising microbial log reduction, but lower viability. In contrast, treatment with atmospheric pressure plasma offers high viability, but poor microbial log reduction. Further study will aim at determining whether plasma treatment is effective at not only sanitization, but sterilization. This research was funded by a NASA grant at the Kennedy Space Center.

Space Crop Production↗

Space Crop Production

This keynote presentation will give a broad overview of human life support considerations and the work focused in different areas for evolving missions. The roles of plants and vision and roadmap for space crop production will be highlighted. Space crop production challenges in different exploration environments will be discussed, and then an overview of the crop plant research in Veggie and the advanced plant habitat will be provided.

Gioia Massa↗

Pick-and-Eat Space Crop Production Flight Testing on the International Space Station

Growing fresh, nutritious, palatable produce for crew consumption during spaceflight may provide health-promoting, bioavailable nutrients and enhance the astronaut dietary experience as we move toward longer-duration missions. However, requirements to support consistent growth of a variety of high-quality crops under spaceflight environmental conditions remain unclear. This study explores the potential to grow crops for consumption on the International Space Station (ISS) using Veggie, NASA’s vegetable production chamber system. VEG-04A and VEG-04B were two flight tests with ground components conducted with the leafy green crop mizuna mustard. In each location, mizuna was grown in two Veggie units simultaneously, with the chambers set to different red-to-blue-to-green light formulations. Preflight verification testing with various lighting treatments was conducted to down-select two treatments that contributed to the best desirable growth and sensory qualities in mizuna mustard. For the flight tests, one Veggie was programmed as “red-rich” with an average of 270 μmol m-2 s-1 of 630 nm red light, 30 μmol m-2 s-1 of 455 nm blue light, and 30 μmol m-2 s-1 of 530 nm green light. The second Veggie was “blue-rich” with an average of 150 µmol m-2 s-1 of 630 nm red light, 150 µmol m-2 s-1 of 455 nm blue light, and 30 µmol m-2 s-1 of 530 nm green light. Light quality is known to impact plant growth, nutrition, microbiology, and sensory characteristics on Earth, and the Veggie flight tests examined how these impacts might differ in microgravity. VEG-04A, a 35-day growth test with a single harvest, was initiated in June and harvested in July 2019. VEG-04B, a 56-day test with three harvests from the same plants, assessed sustained productivity. Preflight testing for VEG-04B was conducted after the VEG-04A flight test to improve the operations, approaches, and watering requirements, which resulted in better crop establishment in the VEG-04B flight test. VEG-04B was initiated in October 2019 with harvests at four, six, and eight weeks after initiation. At all of the harvests, the astronauts froze half of the edible plant tissue to return to Earth and weighed the remaining half using the Mass Measurement Device (MMD). Weighed samples were then cleaned with produce-sanitizing wipes, and consenting crew members participated in sensory evaluations of the fresh produce. The remaining sanitized produce was available for crew consumption as desired. Frozen flight samples were returned to Earth for chemical and microbial analyses to assess nutritional quality and food safety. Flight-grown mizuna was generally more acceptable to the crew and had higher nutrient levels, although mizuna grown in the ground control performed better in terms of higher yield and lower microbial load. This presentation will focus on results from the nutritional and sensory analyses, including how nutrients identified as key for supplementing the crew diet varied across lighting treatments, harvest approaches, and spaceflight versus ground conditions. It is our hope that these tests on the ISS will help mitigate the risk of an inadequate food supply for long-duration missions by adding fresh vegetables to the crew diet. This study was supported by NASA’s Human Research and Space Biology Programs through the HERO NNJ13ZSA002N-ILSRA grant solicitation.

Jess Bunchek↗

Pick-and-Eat Space Crop Production Flight Testing on the International Space Station

Fresh, nutritious, palatable produce for crew consumption on long-duration spaceflight missions may provide health-promoting, bioavailable nutrients and enhance the dietary experience. VEG-04A and VEG-04B explored growing leafy greens on the International Space Station using the Veggie Vegetable Production System. Two flight tests with ground controls were conducted in 2019 growing mizuna mustard, where Veggie chambers were set to different red-to-blue-to-green light formulations. Light quality affects plant growth, nutrition, microbiology, and organoleptic characteristics on Earth, and we examined how these vary in microgravity and under different harvest scenarios. Astronauts harvested and weighed mizuna and completed organoleptic evaluations. Flight samples were returned to Earth for nutritional quality and microbial food safety analyses. Yield and chemistry differed between ground and flight samples and light treatments, and bacterial and fungal counts were lower in ground than in flight samples. This research helps increase our understanding of the requirements for growing high-quality crops in spaceflight.

Food Safety, International Space Station, Nutritio↗

Autonomy and Robotics Workshop in Support of Space Crop Production

This presentation will be an introduction and overview of space crop production needs, goals, and challenges in the areas of robotics and automation for the workshop Aug. 6-7, 2019 at Kennedy Space Center. This presentation will be used to start the workshop and set the direction.

Fritsche, Ralph F.↗

Plants in Space and Space Crop Production

As astronauts venture farther from Earth, and for longer periods, the space food system will increase in importance. Crop production can supplement a packaged diet to provide additional nutrients and dietary variety for astronauts, and in future missions, bioregenerative approaches may be used to generate a larger percentage of the diet. Plants may also provide behavioural health benefits and assist with other life support functions. Several unique challenges exist for growth of plants in microgravity and on other planetary surfaces like the moon and Mars. Testing with the Veggie and Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) chambers on the International Space Station is allowing us to understand the impacts of gravity and spaceflight on crop growth, nutritional content, acceptability, and the importance of plants to astronauts living and working away from Earth. We are also gaining a better understanding of food safety concerns and the behaviour of space plant microbiomes and plant pathogens. As we transition from research towards operational space crop production to enable human exploration, there are several gaps and challenges of growing crops in space that must be addressed. Research and technology development in key areas such as water and nutrient delivery, plant health monitoring, and crop selection are needed to overcome these challenges. Additionally, there are opportunities for breeding or engineering of custom space crops related to plant growth and development, plant physiology, produce nutrition, organoleptic acceptability, and post-harvest characteristics. Solutions to help ensure food security off-Earth may also translate to better approaches to terrestrial sustainable crop production.

Advanced Plant Habitat↗

Plants in Space and Space Crop Production

As astronauts venture farther from Earth, and for longer periods, the space food system will increase in importance. Crop production can supplement a packaged diet to provide additional nutrients and dietary variety for astronauts, and in future missions, bioregenerative approaches may be used to generate a larger percentage of the diet. Plants may also provide behavioural health benefits and assist with other life support functions. Several unique challenges exist for growth of plants in microgravity and on other planetary surfaces like the moon and Mars. Testing with the Veggie and Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) chambers on the International Space Station is allowing us to understand the impacts of gravity and spaceflight on crop growth, nutritional content, acceptability, and the importance of plants to astronauts living and working away from Earth. We are also gaining a better understanding of food safety concerns and the behaviour of space plant microbiomes and plant pathogens. As we transition from research towards operational space crop production to enable human exploration, there are several gaps and challenges of growing crops in space that must be addressed. Research and technology development in key areas such as water and nutrient delivery, plant health monitoring, and crop selection are needed to overcome these challenges. Additionally, there are opportunities for breeding or engineering of custom space crops related to plant growth and development, plant physiology, produce nutrition, organoleptic acceptability, and post-harvest characteristics. Solutions to help ensure food security off-Earth may also translate to better approaches to terrestrial sustainable crop production.

Advanced Plant Habitat↗

Space Crop Production Gaps and Challenges

As astronauts venture farther from Earth, and stay for longer periods, the space food system will increase in importance. Crop production can supplement a pre-packaged space diet to provide nutrition and dietary variety for space crews. In future missions, bioregenerative approaches may be used to generate a larger percentage of the diet, as well as help to reduce life support system burdens and resupply from Earth. Plants may also provide behavioral health benefits to crew members living in the isolated, confined environment of a space habitat. A number of unique challenges exist for growth of plants in microgravity and on other reduced gravity surfaces like the moon and Mars. Testing plant growth inside the Veggie and Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) chambers on the International Space Station is allowing us to understand the impacts of gravity and spaceflight on crop growth, nutritional content, acceptability, and the importance of plants to astronauts living and working away from Earth. We are also gaining a better understanding of food safety concerns and the behavior of space plant microbiomes and plant pathogens, but major gaps in knowledge remain. As we move from research towards operational space crop production to enable exploration, there are numerous gaps in technology, knowledge, and practice related to space crop growth that must be addressed. Research and development in key focus areas such as effective water and nutrient delivery at variable gravity levels, autonomous plant health monitoring, growth system cleaning and disinfection, and selection of ideal space crops are needed to fill these gaps. Breeding or engineering custom space crops may impact areas including plant growth and development, plant physiology, produce nutrition, organoleptic acceptability, and post-harvest characteristics, and these may further enable space crop production scenarios. Space crop challenges are multifaceted and require diverse interdisciplinary teams working together to develop effective solutions. Solving these requires an array of skill sets from across the biological and physical sciences, engineering, and human social sciences. Solutions to help ensure food security off-Earth may also translate to more sustainable terrestrial crop production approaches, and regular dialog between industry, academia, and government organizations working in related fields benefit all. Additional help can come from engagement with student researchers at various levels through courses, participatory science projects, and open science activities which can provide useful data. Global coordination and integration between space agencies and partners will be essential.

Gioia Donna Massa↗

Space Crop Production Gaps and Challenges

As astronauts venture farther from Earth, and stay for longer periods, the space food system will increase in importance. Crop production can supplement a pre-packaged space diet to provide nutrition and dietary variety for space crews. In future missions, bioregenerative approaches may be used to generate a larger percentage of the diet, as well as help to reduce life support system burdens and resupply from Earth. Plants may also provide behavioral health benefits to crew members living in the isolated, confined environment of a space habitat. A number of unique challenges exist for growth of plants in microgravity and on other reduced gravity surfaces like the moon and Mars. Testing plant growth inside the Veggie and Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) chambers on the International Space Station is allowing us to understand the impacts of gravity and spaceflight on crop growth, nutritional content, acceptability, and the importance of plants to astronauts living and working away from Earth. We are also gaining a better understanding of food safety concerns and the behavior of space plant microbiomes and plant pathogens, but major gaps in knowledge remain. As we move from research towards operational space crop production to enable exploration, there are numerous gaps in technology, knowledge, and practice related to space crop growth that must be addressed. Research and development in key focus areas such as effective water and nutrient delivery at variable gravity levels, autonomous plant health monitoring, growth system cleaning and disinfection, and selection of ideal space crops are needed to fill these gaps. Breeding or engineering custom space crops may impact areas including plant growth and development, plant physiology, produce nutrition, organoleptic acceptability, and post-harvest characteristics, and these may further enable space crop production scenarios. Space crop challenges are multifaceted and require diverse interdisciplinary teams working together to develop effective solutions. Solving these requires an array of skill sets from across the biological and physical sciences, engineering, and human social sciences. Solutions to help ensure food security off-Earth may also translate to more sustainable terrestrial crop production approaches, and regular dialog between industry, academia, and government organizations working in related fields benefit all. Additional help can come from engagement with student researchers at various levels through courses, participatory science projects, and open science activities which can provide useful data. Global coordination and integration between space agencies and partners will be essential.

Gioia Massa↗