Terrestrial Analogues to Mars and the Moon: Canada’s Role

Terrestrial analogues are places on Earth that approximate, in some respect, the geological, environmental and putative biological conditions on a particular planetary body, either at the present-day or sometime in the past. Analogue studies are driven by the need to understand processes on Earth in order to interpret and groundtruth data sent back from Mars and other planetary bodies by unmanned orbiters and rovers. This presents an ideal opportunity to further collaboration between the solid earth and planetary science communities in Canada and elsewhere. Analogue environments also provide a critical locale for optimizing exploration requirements and strategies for future manned missions to the Moon and Mars. The ideal geography and climate, a wide diversity of analogues sites, and a history of analogue activities, ensures that Canada can play a leading role in the expanding international use of terrestrial analogues sites. SOMMAIRE Les analogues terrestres sont ces endroits sur la Terre qui possède jusqu’à un certain point, les conditions géologiques, environnementales ou biologiques présumées d’un corps céleste, actuelles ou passées. Les études d’analogues terrestres sont nécessaires pour comprendre le fonctionnement de certains processus sur Terre afin de permettre l’interprétation et la validation sur site témoin de données reçues d’orbiteurs non-habités ou de robots mobiles d’exploration. C’est là une occasion idéale d’accentuer la collaboration entre les communautés des sciences planétaires et celles des géosciences au Canada et ailleurs. Les milieux d’analogues constituent aussi des endroits importants permettant d’optimiser les besoins et les stratégies d’exploration de missions habitées vers la lune et Mars. De par ses caractéristiques géographiques et climatiques idéales, sa grande diversité de sites d’analogues, et son histoire d’activités analogues, le Canada est assuré de jouer un rôle de chef de file dans l’utilisation internationale croissante de sites d’analogues terrestres

Service Section Design of the EDEN ISS Project

The international EDEN ISS project aims to investigate and validate techniques for plant cultivation in future bioregenerative life support systems. To this end the EDEN ISS project partners aim to design and build the Mobile Test Facility, which consists of two modified 20 foot shipping containers. One of these shipping containers is designated the Service Section and houses the bulk of the subsystem components, such as the Air Management System and Nutrient Delivery System, as well as a rack-sized plant cultivation system, which uses a standard International Space Station payload form factor. The subsystems within the Service Section ensure that the approximately 12.5 m² of cultivation area in the second container, the Future Exploration Greenhouse, have the proper environmental conditions, nutrients and illumination for optimal crop growth. The EDEN ISS project concluded its main design phase with a Critical Design Review in March 2016, thereafter proceeded into the hardware development and procurement phase of the project. This paper describes the final design of the Service Section at the start of the assembly, integration and testing phase, which will run until the complete Mobile Test Facility is shipped to Antarctica, where it arrives in December 2017, for a 12 month space analogue mission

The preliminary design of the EDEN ISS Mobile Test Facility - An Antarctic greenhouse

EDEN ISS is a European project to investigate cultivation techniques of plants in space for future bio-regenerative life support systems. The technologies will be tested in a laboratory environment as well as at the highly-isolated German Antarctic Neumayer Station III. A small and mobile container-sized test facility will be built in order to provide realistic mass flow relationships. This paper provides a summary of the activities performed in the early design phase of the project. The design phase started with the kick-off meeting in March 2015 and focused on the requirements definition and design of the greenhouse. The EDEN ISS partners met for a design workshop from September 7th to September 18th, 2015 in the Concurrent Engineering Facility of DLR’s Institute of Space Systems in Bremen, Germany. The purpose of the workshop was the generation of a preliminary design for the Mobile Test Facility. The Mobile Test Facility will be built later in the project and used to conduct an over one year long experiment campaign beginning in December 2017 in Antarctica. During the two week workshop, the consortium members worked on their respective subsystems and on how their systems can be integrated in the overall greenhouse. The design of each subsystem was greatly improved. System budgets (e.g. mass, power) were calculated, engineering drawings created and estimates with respect to inputs and outputs made. A very important step was the consolidation of the system and subsystem requirements. This paper summarizes the results of the design work-shop and describes the preliminary design of the EDEN ISS Mobile Test Facility

Introducing EDEN ISS - A European project on advancing plant cultivation technologies and operations

Plant cultivation in large-scale closed environments is challenging and several key technologies necessary for space-based plant production are not yet space-qualified or remain in early stages of development. The EDEN ISS project foresees development and demonstration of higher plant cultivation technologies, suitable for future deployment on the International Space Station and from a long-term perspective, within Moon and Mars habitats. The EDEN ISS consortium will design and test essential plant cultivation technologies using an International Standard Payload Rack form factor cultivation system for potential testing on-board the International Space Station. Furthermore, a Future Exploration Greenhouse will be designed with respect to future planetary bio-regenerative life support system deployments. The technologies will be tested in a laboratory environment as well as at the highly-isolated German Antarctic Neumayer Station III. A small and mobile container-sized test facility will be built in order to provide realistic mass flow relationships. In addition to technology development and validation, food safety and plant handling procedures will be developed. This paper describes the goals and objectives of EDEN ISS and the different project phases and milestones. Furthermore, the project consortium will be introduced and the role of each partner within the project is explained

Review and analysis of plant growth chambers and greenhouse modules for space

The cultivation of higher plants occupies an essential role within bio-regenerative life support systems. It contributes to all major functional aspects by closing the different loops in a habitat like food production, CO2 reduction, O2 production, waste recycling and water management. Fresh crops are also expected to have a positive impact on crew psychological health. Plant material was first launched into orbit on unmanned vehicles as early as the 1960s. Since then, more than a dozen different plant cultivation experiments have been flown on crewed vehicles beginning with the launch of Oasis 1, in 1971. Continuous subsystem improvements and increasing knowledge of plant response to the spaceflight environment has led to the design of VEGGIE and the Advanced Plant Habitat, the latest in the series of plant growth chambers. The paper reviews the different designs and technological solutions implemented in higher plant flight experiments. They are analyzed with respect to their functional (e.g. illumination source, grow medium), operational (e.g. illumination period, air temperature) and performance parameters (e.g. growth area, biomass output per square meter). Using these analyses a comprehensive comparison is compiled to illustrate the development trends of controlled environment agriculture technologies in bio-regenerative life support systems, enabling future human long-duration missions into the solar system

The EDEN Initiative Portfolio and Strategy

In 2011, the DLR Institute of Space Systems launched its research initiative called EDEN - Evolution & Design of Environmentally-closed Nutrition-Sources. The research initiative focuses on Bio-regenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS), especially greenhouse modules, and how these technologies can be integrated in future human-made space habitats. EDEN was established within the DLR internal project CROP (Combined Regenerative Organic- Food Production) – a joint research endeavor between the Institute of Aerospace Medicine (ME) and the Institute of Space Systems (RY). It is the goal of the EDEN team to further advance the latest cultivation technologies and to adjust these developments into space related applications. Even though, present scenarios for future human missions to Moon and Mars are still several years from coming to fruition, the time to develop these technologies needs to start today. Only this way, highly-reliable and resource-efficient BLSS will be ready for implementation into the mission architecture for humanity’s journey to the Moon and Mars and - even more importantly – enable a sustainable and continuous presence there. Organized by the Department of System Analysis Space Segment (SARA), the EDEN Initiative facilitates its own Space Habitation Plant Laboratory (EDEN Lab.), the institute’s Concurrent Engineering Facility (CEF). Furthermore, the group receives support from the institute’s Electronic Laboratory (E-Lab), and utilizes the institute’s laboratory building (incl. integration hall) in order to foster the development of cutting-edge plant cultivation technologies

Highlights 2014 - Yearly status report EDEN Initiative

The EDEN initiative is now in its fourth year of existence. Much has happened in the last years, but 2014 was an extraordinary one! Sustained human presence in space requires the development of new technologies to maintain environment control, to provide water, oxygen, food and to keep the astronauts healthy and psychologically fit. Bio-regenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) in conjunction with in-situ resource utilization will initially reduce and ultimately eliminate consumables from the logistics chain. Minimizing the need for resupply while ensuring human safety will allow astronauts to travel further and stay longer in space than ever before. Therefore, major goal of the EDEN group is the investigation of Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) processes and developing the associated technologies for space. Following this direction, several important milestones were accomplished during 2014, such as the opening of the new Space Habitation Plant Laboratory (SHPL), the organization of the 4th international Agrospace Workshop, participation in the HI-SEAS II analogue mission, and the successfully performed Concurrent Engineering (CE) study of ESA’s Lunar greenhouse module. But without any doubt, the most significant was the successful evaluation of the Horizon 2020 EDEN ISS proposal, which scored with 14.5 out of 15 points. Starting early 2015, the EDEN group will take over the project lead and will coordinate 13 international partners over the next four years. Exciting times ahead! Worthwhile to mention is the Strategy & Portfolio document, which was published for the first time by the EDEN team in 2014. It outlines the group’s key research domains, the involved projects, the spin-off projects, and outreach activities. Nearing the end of 2014, Lucie Poulet left the group in order to pursue her PhD research at the Université Blaise Pascal, France. Although her departure is hard for the group, we wish her all the best and are looking forward collaborating with her in the future

HIGHLIGHTS 2015 - YEARLY STATUS REPORT EDEN INITIATIVE

- 40 °C, heavy snow storms, high wind speeds (~30m/s), total isolation, and six months of almost complete darkness throughout the day. These are only some of the challenges the EDEN team will face during its EDEN ISS space analogue mission, which will start at the end of 2017 at the German Neumayer Station III in Antarctica. It is this human mission that drove and motivated the EDEN team during 2015, the first year of this EU-funded project. With a kick-off meeting in March and a detailed two week design study in September, the EDEN team was heavily involved in design tasks for the Antarctic Mobile Test Facility. With this project, the team is on the forefront of pushing the development boundaries of plant cultivation in space. In early 2015, the EDEN Laboratory was extended by an additional room. This new work area offers space for multi-purpose work tables, additional storage area, a 3D-printer station for advanced prototyping, and a small electronic work station. 2015 was also a year for terrestrial applications. In close collaboration with the Association for Vertical Farming (AFV) and leading scientists from the horticulture sector, the EDEN team conducted its second Vertical Farming study, performed in the Concurrent Engineering Facility (CEF). This advanced farm represents a benchmark design for the future discussion on the applicability of inner city agriculture solutions. In 2015, the ‘EDEN for Kids’ learning- and outreach program was created in close collaboration with the DLR School_lab. With this comprehensive teaching program, the foundation was created to facilitate the challenges of space exploration and sustainable living on Earth. Furthermore in February 2015, Vincent Vrakking joined the EDEN group as a new team member. Vincent, who already conducted his master’s thesis at DLR Bremen on inflatable greenhouse systems, complements the team with his essential knowledge of computer aided design and systems engineering. In September 2015, Chen Dong, a Chinese guest scientist, who lived 105 days in the Chinese habitat „Lunar Palace 1“, commenced a one year exchange program with the EDEN group. The EDEN team is confident that it will continue its development pathway into 2016 and foresees the steady support of its partners and DLR itself

3D printed aeroponic tray nutrient delivery system for bioregenerative life support systems

Bioregenerative systems incorporating higher plants are recognized as a promising life support system option for future long-duration space missions. Aeroponic nutrient delivery systems have been regarded as a suitable method to grow plants in space due to their low mass penalty compared to soil cultivation and traditional hydroponics. Presently the German Aerospace Center’s EDEN research team has been utilizing standard Euro boxes/trays as aeroponic root zone compartments. The boxes have been modified to incorporate aeroponic tubing with misters and include manually constructed covers to hold the plants. Several limitations with this approach have been identified including seed pinching, presence of stray light, and adaptation to plant spacing over time. A new custom tray is designed firstly utilizing strong plastic holders replacing rubber holders to be plugged into traytop holes. Pressure surrounding the seed is eliminated to prevent pinching. Black coloured body is chosen together with side protrusion on its traytop to block stray light. The new design is also complete with traytop variants to accommodate growing plants and increased canopy cover. The variants include 4-hole, 2-hole and single-hole traytops. The root compartment also includes several added sections to cope with growing plant roots. Feedlines for the misters are placed outside the container to facilitate better cleaning and the container floor is elevated with a 3° angle to direct water to its drain hole. Seal rings and rubber strips are added onto the plastic pucks and their insert location on the traytop to seal off against water leakage. Extra parts, rock-wool holders and crop-stands, are also made for cultivating various other target plants. 3D printing was chosen to build test prototypes. Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene was selected as the build material for its good surface finish, robustness, durability and water resistance. Issues with the current aeroponic trays are solved through the custom designed aeroponic trays. Further developments can be done through implementing a technique for better surface finish on angled surfaces and larger printing sizes. These aeroponic trays are planned to be utilized in the EDEN ISS Antarctic greenhouse module project and within future microgravity/planetary surface plant production systems