Vegetable Production Systems Component Tests

As long-term spaceflight missions become ever more imminent, astronaut nutrition and diet require further investigation and development. Dehydrated or stabilized food sources are currently used for spaceflight, but growing fresh produce aboard spacecraft can potentially supplement the astronauts diets. Further, having astronauts work with plants while in space can provide psychological benefits by serving as a tangible passage of time and representing a living component aboard an otherwise mechanical environment. As spaceflight duration will lengthen as missions head back to the Moon and to Mars, having the ability and knowledge to grow fresh produce will become even more vital. The following experiments were conducted in the late summer and fall of 2018. The purpose of these studies were to examine potential off-gas from a system component that could potentially inhibit plant germination, optimizing lighting methods and protocol for mizuna production, determining a fertilizer method that best promotes healthy mizuna yields, and troubleshooting tomato production for the next generation of the Vegetable Production System

Food Production for Space Exploration

No abstract availabl

NCERA-101 Station Report from Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

This is our annual report to the North Central Extension Research Activity, which is affiliated with the USDA and Land Grant University Agricultural Experiment Stations. I have been a member of this committee for 25 years. The presentation will be given by Dr. Gioia Massa, Kennedy Space Cente

Researching Plant Growth in Amended Martian Regolith Simulant, Photosynthetic Rates of Plants, Seed Surface Decontamination by Plasma Methods, New Crop Development, and Porous Concrete Media

Plant growth research for food production at Kennedy Space Center looks at how future residents of Mars and the Moon will enjoy the sight, smell, taste, and nutrition of plants. Overall, the goal is to provide a sustainable source of healthy food, on long-duration space flights, so astronauts can get the nutrition they need and produce food. The sustainable production of food will aid in the efforts of closed life support. Plants have a vital application for bio regenerative life support as demands for food and oxygen can be provided through photosynthesis, while the carbon dioxide from human respiration is removed. Transpiration is also used in life support processes as waste water that can be recycled through plant systems with the resultant humidity then condensed as clean water. Selected crops will provide the nutrient requirements needed for long duration space flight. Currently, projects in food production are investigating how plants grow in Martian regolith simulant, new crops testing with tomato and pepper cultivars, acquiring real-time photosynthetic data on crops, assessing plant growth in porous concrete media, and the use of plasma for surface decontamination of seeds

NCERA-101 STATION REPORT - KENNEDY SPACE CENTER: Large Plant Growth Hardware for the International Space Station

This is the station report for the national controlled environments meeting. Topics to be discussed will include the Veggie and Advanced Plant Habitat ISS hardware. The goal is to introduce this hardware to a potential user community

Preparation for the Proof of Concept Flight of the Veggie Plant Growth Chamber

Veggie is a small plant growth chamber designed and built by ORBITEC that will fly to the International Space Station on SpaceX-3, scheduled for the summer of 2013. Ultimately Veggie will be used for research, education and outreach, and crew recreation. We want to demonstrate the functionality of this hardware by testing a scenario that could allow the crew to grow and consume fresh vegetables. Veggie will be collapsed and transported flat in a cargo transfer bag, and deployed on orbit, where it will be installed in an EXPRESS rack. The chamber consists of three subsystems: an LED light cap, a transparent bellows, and a root mat reservoir assembly. The bellows and flexible support arms allow the distance between plants and light cap to be adjusted for different ages and types of plants. Researchers at Kennedy Space Center and ORBITEC have been working to develop the plant growth interfaces for the proof of concept flight. We have developed a rooting pillow, consisting of a small bag containing media, time release fertilizer, seeds, and a wicking surface to conduct water from the root mat reservoir. Prototype pillows have been tested and results have influenced the design of flight pillows, which will be modified for microgravity from flight-approved materials. Several studies have been conducted selecting species and comparing media types in analog systems. Water content seems to be the most important factor differentiating media types in these small growth volumes (100 mL). Media type also influenced microbial levels on plants. Since produce sanitizing agents are not currently approved for growing food crops on orbit, plants and media types having very low microbial levels are being selected. Lettuce, mizuna, and other salad greens typically have microbial counts less than 10(exp 4) colony forming units and thus are good candidates for spaceflight. As we approach flight verification testing, we will finalize species, media selection, harvesting, and microbial sampling procedures. Next steps include testing of Veggie flight and ground hardware and associated equipment. This research was funded by NASA

Growing Beyond Earth; Students Exploring Plant Varieties for Future Space Exploration

Future space exploration and long duration space flight will pose an array of challenges to the health and wellbeing of astronauts. Since 2015, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTBG), in partnership with NASA's Veggie team, has been testing edible crops for space flight potential through a series of citizen science experiments. FTBG's interest in classroom-based science projects, along with NASA's successful operation of the Veggie system aboard the International Space Station (ISS), led to a NASA-FTBG partnership that gave rise to the Growing Beyond Earth STEM Initiative (GBE). Established in 2015, GBE now involves 131 middle and high school classrooms in South Florida, all conducting simultaneous plant science experiments. The results of those experiments (both numeric and visual) are directly shared with the space food production researchers at KSC. Through this session, we will explore the successful classroom implementation and integration into the curriculum, how the data is being used and the impact of the project on participating researchers, teachers, and students. Participating schools were supplied with specialized LED-lit growth chambers, mimicking the Veggie system on ISS, for growing edible plants under similar physical and environmental constraints. Research protocols were provided by KSC scientists, while edible plant varieties were selected mainly by the botanists at FTBG. In a jointly-led professional development workshop, participating teachers were trained to conduct GBE experiments in their classrooms. Teachers were instructed to not only teach basic botany concepts, but to also demonstrate practical applications of math, physics and chemistry. As experiments were underway, students shared data on plant germination, growth, and health in an online spreadsheet. Results from the students research show a promising selection of new plant candidates for possible further testing. Over a two year period, more than 5000 South Florida students, ages 11 to 18, participated in GBE. Evaluation of the program shows an increased knowledge of and interest in science and science careers among students. The program has also boosted the demand for summer high school internships at FTBG, further developing expertise in plant research and science related to space exploration. Supported by a grant from NASA (NNX16AM32G) to Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden

Veggie Hardware Validation Test Preliminary Results and Lessons Learned

The Veggie hardware validation test, VEG-01, was conducted on the International Space Station during Expeditions 39 and 40 from May through June of 2014. The Veggie hardware and the VEG-01 experiment payload were launched to station aboard the SpaceX-3 resupply mission in April, 2014. Veggie was installed in an Expedite-the-Processing-of-Experiments-to-Space-Station (ExPRESS) rack in the Columbus module, and the VEG-01 validation test was initiated. Veggie installation was successful, and power was supplied to the unit. The hardware was programmed and the root mat reservoir and plant pillows were installed without issue. As expected, a small amount of growth media was observed in the sealed bags which enclosed the plant pillows when they were destowed. Astronaut Steve Swanson used the wet/dry vacuum to clean up the escaped particles. Water insertion or priming the first plant pillow was unsuccessful as an issue prevented water movement through the quick disconnect. All subsequent pillows were successfully primed, and the initial pillow was replaced with a backup pillow and successfully primed. Six pillows were primed, but only five pillows had plants which germinated. After about a week and a half it was observed that plants were not growing well and that pillow wicks were dry. This indicated that the reservoir was not supplying sufficient water to the pillows via wicking, and so the team reverted to an operational fix which added water directly to the plant pillows. Direct watering of the pillows led to a recovery in several of the stressed plants; a couple of which did not recover. An important lesson learned involved Veggie's bellows. The bellows tended to float and interfere with operations when opened, so Steve secured them to the baseplate during plant tending operations. Due to the perceived intensity of the LED lights, the crew found it challenging to both work under the lights and read crew procedures on their computer. Although the lights are not a safety hazard, for visual comfort crewmembers were advised to wear sunglasses when working with the plants and then they can lift glasses to read procedures. Steve Swanson had already trail-blazed this procedure when he initiated VEG-01. The temperature and humidity data logger was relocated mid-experiment to provide measurements on both sides of the unit. Images of the plants were downlinked weekly, and videos of installation and harvest were recorded. This imaging frequency was not sufficient to monitor and respond to changes in plant growth. Plants, samples, and data loggers will be returned on SpaceX-4, scheduled to return the fall of 2014. Lessons learned will be translated into hardware and operational modifications for future Veggie payloads

Overview of the Veggie System

No abstract availabl