Sustainable Reentry

Blogger Tool: ESA Closed Loop Life Support

Previous postings have discussed NASA's Contained Environment Life Support Systems (CELSS), so it's time to share some of the limelight with the European Space Agency's MELIiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative) research program. With MELIiSSA, we bloggers will never need to leave home again assuming there will be a household version someday. All we'll need is a computer, an internet connection and MELIiSSA, and life will become a carefree, digital bliss.

MELIiSSA "aims to develop the technology required for a future biological life support system for long term manned space missions." In fact, MELISSA claims to go "further than other recycling systems used on Mir or the International Space Station which purify water and recycle exhaled carbon dioxide", by attempting to "recycle organic waste for food production." Most of the pictures of MELISSA are not very pretty, but the MELISSA loop schematic (upper left) illustrates MELISSA's approach. MELISSA utilizes five compartments that provide an entire ecosystem loop from human food production, to human consumption to recycling human wastes:

Compartment 1: The Liquefying Compartment
Compartment 2: The Photoheterotrophic Compartment
Compartment 3: The Nitrifying Compartment
Compartment 4: The Photoautotophic Compartment
Compartment 5: The Crew

What I like about MELISSA is that technology transfer is a built-in phase of the program (Phase 4). Presently, a great deal of biological waste produced by human is not only completely wasted, but becoming a severe landfill and human health problem. MELISSA techhnology can potentially be both scaled up and down to profitably utilize this waste. MELISSA offers some exciting opportunities.

The ESA claims that a Belgian company has already used MELISSA research to "devise methods to remove as much as 85% of the solid waste left over after waste-water treatment and to convert it into water and methane gas, which can be used to generate electricity." (See ESA posting). The Phase 4 page lists several other examples. For more information on potential opportunities with MELISSA, see Technology Transfer Programme Office.

Notes:
Quotes are from the MELIiSSA website viewed today, unless otherwise noted.
Image: MELIiSSA Loop, courtesy of ESA.

Soybean Crop Sprouting Up On The ISS

Has astroculture has taken a 'small sprout for plant, a giant leap for plant-kind' on the International Space Station (ISS)? The Advanced AstrocultureTM (ADVASC) plant growth chamber is now "harvested" its second generation of soybeans. This is the first time that soybeans have been grown from seed to seed in space, and it is an important proof-of-concept advance for astroculture.

The goal of produce ADVASC is ultimately the production of high energy, low mass food sources during long duration space missions. The principle investigator was Dr. Weijia Zhou, of the University of Wisconsin - Madison (disclosure: the author's alma mater), with the payload developed by the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics. The ADVASC was "designed to operate relatively autonomously, providing temperature, humidity, lighting control, nutrient delivery, and data downlink with minimal crew assistance."

The ADVASC provides only 486 square centimeters of growing area. Yet relatively large amounts of crops can be grown in small areas. In Africa, a single, low-technology, 2 meter diameter "keyhole gardens" can supply the entire vegetable needs of a small family of three or four people. With cutting-edge space technology, an even smaller garden should be able to satisfy the vegetable needs of the crew of ISS or a station on the Moon, Mars or an asteroid mining colony.

(Image, upper right: NASA ISS Science Officer, Peggy Whitson looks at the ADVASC Soybean plant growth experiment in the U.S. Laboratory during Increment 5. Image courtesy of NASA).

CELSS As A Paradigm for Susrtainable Technology

NASA has been working on various aspects of Contained Environment Life Support Systems (CELSS). Much of this work could be applicable to solving the sustainability challenges faced by the human race. In addition to other topics, this blog will highlight CELSS of value to sustainability. Since NASA has already accomplished some of the groundwork (pun intended), industry could leverage NASA's work into new sustainable technologies for use on the Earth in the areas of agriculture, microculture, wate management and recycling.

Although some work still continues, funding for some of this work has been slashed in recent years. Yet planned missions will create additional demand for CELSS. This could result in business opportunities for the private sector. Companies could leverage some of their costs in developing sustainable technology by gaining contract or innovative partnership work with NASA for CELSS components.

(Image, upper left: astroculture laboratory. Image courtesy of NASA.)