Advanced Life Support Systems (ALSS) are required to sustain
human habitation of space over long time periods. As we progress from
Space Station, to Lunar Base, to Mars Mission, to Orbital Space
Settlements the distances involved make the logistics of resupply
extremely difficult and costly. Systems must be implemented which
revitalize the atmosphere, produce food, reclaim and purify water,
destroy solid wastes, and recycle precious materials for re-use.
These systems must be efficient, reliable, and have minimal
requirements for re-supply to maintain long term operation. To
achieve these goals, a Controlled Ecological Life Support System
(CELSS) is envisioned which mimics natural biogeochemical processes.
In the CELSS approach, bioregenerative systems are used to the
maximum extent practical. The growth of green plants can serve the
dual purpose of food production and atmospheric revitalization,
bacterial consortia in immobilized cell or activated sludge
bioreactors can be used to remove toxic organics from water
reclamation streams, similar bioreactors can be used to process
inedible plant biomass and other solid wastes, etc. Integrated
systems will be tested in a completely closed environment at NASA-JSC
under the Early Human Test Initiative. Integrated systems will also
be evaluated in the antarctic under the CELSS Antartic Analog project
conducted jointly between the National Science Foundation and
NASA-Ames.
Flynn, M., et al., A Laboratory-Scale Controlled Ecological Life Support System, SAE Technical Paper Series No. 941293, presented at 24th International Conference on Environmental Systems, Germany, 1994.
Sun, S., Henninger, D., Tri, T., and Sager, J.,
NASA's
Approach to Integrated System Testing of Regenerative Life Support
Systems, SAE Technical Paper Series No. 951494, presented
at 25th International Conference on Environmental Systems, San Diego,
CA, July 10-13, 1995.
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Web author: Tugrul Sezen
[email protected]
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