As humanity sets its sights on Mars and other deep-space destinations, new challenges arise that require innovative solutions. One question that has yet to be answered is how food will be provided for long duration missions in deep-space. Current short-duration missions carry the entirety of the food onboard, and continuous missions at locations in LEO receive food periodically from resupply vehicles. Carrying enough food for a mission lasting over six months can be very heavy, resulting in astronomical added cost. Similarly, sending multiple deep-space resupply missions, a method typically used for destinations in LEO, also has the potential to greatly increase total costs. Another issue is the current state of astronaut sustenance. Astronaut food is preserved and heavily packaged, which adds excess weight and generates waste. According to astronauts, the food can also be unpleasant and non-representational of meals on earth.
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The purpose of this project is to design a sustainable on-board life-support subsystem that provides sustenance for the crew of long-duration space expeditions before 2033. Relative to the existing method, the system designed will ideally reduce waste, be cost effective, require no inputs, recycle outputs, minimize waste, provide added nutritional value to astronauts’ diets, and improve astronauts’ physical and mental health.
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After an extensive analysis of multiple alternatives, a bioregenerative fogponic system was selected and designed to feed four astronauts over a six month long mission. Growing food during transit was selected because it provides key advantages over the current method of transporting all food. Because a vehicle in space is a closed system that cannot draw from the environment, growing food using the recycled output of life support systems onboard can yield the same amount of food for less mass. Additionally, growing food ensures that it is fresh and has a high nutritional value. The system was designed to use fogponics, an agricultural method of growing plants in nutrient-rich mist without a substrate. Fogponics was chosen from multiple growth techniques due to its minimal water usage, minimal space required, resistance to disease, increased germination speed, and increased nutrient uptake. The fogponic system will include features such as autonomous tending, a controllable environment, and a recycling system for plant output including composted inedible biomass. The crops to be grown were chosen by determining the optimal blend of foods that meet the average human’s dietary needs. This list of crops was then narrowed down by a qualitative feasibility analysis that considered factors such as plant size, growing conditions, and cycle length. The final crops chosen include but are not limited to peanuts, peppers, kidney beans, carrots, and mushrooms.
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A sustainable system that provides astronauts with the proper nutrients is a crucial step to becoming earth independent. The system designed to accomplish this task can potentially be operational by 2033. Because space travel offers several constraints such as microgravity and limited growing area, weight, and environmental inputs, sustainable food production requires a unique growing method beyond soil. Fogponics was determined to be the ideal growth method for the most environments. A successful system would have applications beyond transit. Because the system would be tested on earth, it can withstand environments of all gravity levels between earth’s gravity and microgravity. Additionally, successful operation in space would mean that it would not rely on environmental inputs, making it useable at destinations with adverse environmental conditions, including Mars. This technology is already being used on earth. A successful proof-of-concept mission would spur progress in widespread sustainable farming on earth.
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