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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1996

Enzyme conversion of lignocellulosic plant materials for resource recovery in a Controlled Ecological Life Support System

A large amount of inedible plant material composed primarily of the carbohydrate materials cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin is generated as a result of plant growth in a Controlled Ecological Life-Support System (CELSS). Cellulose is a linear homopolymer of glucose, which when properly processed will yield glucose, a valuable sugar because it can be added directly to human diets. Hemicellulose is a heteropolymer of hexoses and pentoses that can be treated to give a sugar mixture that is potentially a valuable fermentable carbon source. Such fermentations yield desirable supplements to the edible products from hydroponically-grown plants such as rapeseed, soybean, cowpea, or rice. Lignin is a three-dimensionally branched aromatic polymer, composed of phenyl propane units, which is susceptible to bioconversion through the growth of the white rot fungus, Pluerotus ostreatus. Processing conditions, that include both a hot water pretreatment and fungal growth and that lead to the facile conversion of plant polysaccharides to glucose, are presented.

NASA Discipline Number 93-10↗
DOE OSTI2022

Diverse events have transferred genes for edible seaweed digestion from marine to human gut bacteria

Humans harbor numerous species of colonic bacteria that digest fiber polysaccharides in commonly consumed terrestrial plants. More recently in history, regional populations have consumed edible macroalgae seaweeds containing unique polysaccharides. It remains unclear how extensively gut bacteria have adapted to digest these nutrients. Here, in this work, we show that the ability of gut bacteria to digest seaweed polysaccharides is more pervasive than previously appreciated. Enrichment-cultured Bacteroides harbor previously discovered genes for seaweed degradation, which have mobilized into several members of this genus. Additionally, other examples of marine bacteria-derived genes, and their mobile DNA elements, are involved in gut microbial degradation of seaweed polysaccharides, including genes in gut-resident Firmicutes. Collectively, these results uncover multiple separate events that have mobilized the genes encoding seaweed-degrading-enzymes into gut bacteria. This work further underscores the metabolic plasticity of the human gut microbiome and global exchange of genes in the context of dietary selective pressures.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Testing Specialized Fertigation Blends for Agronomic Biofortification for Spaceflight Applications

The current spaceflight diet is prepackaged and vitamins degrade over time. Plants grown in the Veggie and APH units on the ISS currently provide the astronauts with a hefty dose of vitamins and minerals, but some nutrients could be improved. Agronomic Biofortifcation of crops with fertilizers has been tested on Earth, with the successful addition of minerals and vitamin C to crops that have otherwise been deficient. We intend to test if we can replicate this in a controlled environment and expand it to nutrients that are not often present in abundance in plants. This will be done by adding fluid nutrient blends to the water supply of candidate crops for spaceflight applications. We hypothesize that fertilization of plants with nutrients that are of value to human health will have neutral to positive effect on plants, with desired nutrients present in greater abundance in treated plants than untreated plants. We intend to show this through germination percent and pace, yield of edible biomass, the growth rate, and overall development of the crop plant. For this experiment, radish microgreens were grown on mats in a controlled environment chamber in enriched CO2, with LED lighting similar to what is found in the ISS Veggie hardware. Watering was conducted once at planting with a specialized blend of ½ strength Hoagland’s hydroponic solution with additional vitamins. Preliminary results show no decrease in overall biomass production with plants grown using additional vitamin D, but additional nutrients will be tested. Future direction will be to perform nutritional analysis of plants. Test that resulting produce will be suitable for human consumption, including meeting or exceeding food safety guidelines and palatability.

Christina M Johnson↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Testing Specialized Fertigation Blends for Agronomic Biofortification for Spaceflight Applications

The current spaceflight diet is prepackaged and vitamins degrade over time. Plants grown in the Veggie and APH units on the ISS currently provide the astronauts with a hefty dose of vitamins and minerals, but some nutrients could be improved. Agronomic Biofortifcation of crops with fertilizers has been tested on Earth, with the successful addition of minerals and vitamin C to crops that have otherwise been deficient. We intend to test if we can replicate this in a controlled environment and expand it to nutrients that are not often present in abundance in plants. This will be done by adding fluid nutrient blends to the water supply of candidate crops for spaceflight applications. We hypothesize that fertilization of plants with nutrients that are of value to human health will have neutral to positive effect on plants, with desired nutrients present in greater abundance in treated plants than untreated plants. We intend to show this through germination percent and pace, yield of edible biomass, the growth rate, and overall development of the crop plant. For this experiment, radish microgreens were grown on mats in a controlled environment chamber in enriched CO2, with LED lighting similar to what is found in the ISS Veggie hardware. Watering was conducted once at planting with a specialized blend of ½ strength Hoagland’s hydroponic solution with additional vitamins. Preliminary results show no decrease in overall biomass production with plants grown using additional vitamin D, but additional nutrients will be tested. Future direction will be to perform nutritional analysis of plants. Test that resulting produce will be suitable for human consumption, including meeting or exceeding food safety guidelines and palatability.

microgreens↗
NASA NTRS1990

The conversion of lignocellulosics to fermentable sugars: A survey of current research and application to CELSS

An overview of the options for converting lignocellulosics into fermentable sugars as applied to the Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) is given. A requirement for pretreatment is shown as well as the many available options. At present, physical/chemical methods are the simplest and best characterized options, but enzymatic processes will likely be the method of choice in the future. The use of pentose sugars by microorganisms to produce edibles at levels comparable to conventional plants is shown. The possible use of mycelial food production on pretreated but not hydrolyzed lignocelluloscis is also presented. Simple tradeoff analysis among some of the many possible biological pathways to regeneration of waste lignocellulosics was undertaken. Comparisons with complete oxidation processes were made. It is suggested that the NASA Life Sciences CELSS program maintain relationships with other government agencies involved in lignocellulosic conversions and use their expertise when the actual need for such conversion technology arises rather than develop this expertise within NASA.

Petersen, Gene R.↗
NASA NTRS1997

NASA tests composters for space

For long term missions, composters may be an integral part of a life support system that provides edible food crops, extracts nutrients from plant biomass and removes contaminants from the recycling stream.

Plants/growth & development↗
NASA NTRS2004

Evaluating and optimizing horticultural regimes in space plant growth facilities

In designing innovative space plant growth facilities (SPGF) for long duration space flight, various limitations must be addressed including onboard resources: volume, energy consumption, heat transfer and crew labor expenditure. The required accuracy in evaluating on board resources by using the equivalent mass methodology and applying it to the design of such facilities is not precise. This is due to the uncertainty of the structure and not completely understanding the properties of all associated hardware, including the technology in these systems. We present a simple criteria of optimization for horticultural regimes in SPGF: Qmax = max [M x (EBI)2/(V x E x T], where M is the crop harvest in terms of total dry biomass in the plant growth system; EBI is the edible biomass index (harvest index), V is volume occupied by the crop; E is the crop light energy supply during growth; T is the crop growth duration. The criterion reflects directly on the consumption of onboard resources for crop production. c2004 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗
NASA NTRS1997

From fresh vegetables to the harvest of wheat plants grown in the "SVET" space greenhouse onboard the MIR orbital station

Researchers report the results of experiments conducted onboard MIR in 1990, 1995, and 1996 in raising edible crops. In the 1990 experiment, radishes and Chinese cabbage were grown successfully, though the experimental plants were up to four times smaller than controls at harvest. The 1995 experiment in growing wheat through a complete life cycle was not completed. The 1996 experiment was successful in growing wheat through a complete life cycle to the seed stage. No seeds developed on any of the 279 ears harvested in that experiment. Reasons for the seedless development are explored.

long duration↗
NASA NTRS2000

Analysis of edible oil processing options for the BIO-Plex advanced life support system

Edible oil is a critical component of the proposed plant-based Advanced Life Support (ALS) diet. Soybean, peanut, and single-cell oil are the oil source options to date. In terrestrial manufacture, oil is ordinarily extracted with hexane, an organic solvent. However, exposed solvents are not permitted in the spacecraft environment or in enclosed human tests by National Aeronautics and Space Administration due to their potential danger and handling difficulty. As a result, alternative oil-processing methods will need to be utilized. Preparation and recovery options include traditional dehulling, crushing, conditioning, and flaking, extrusion, pressing, water extraction, and supercritical extraction. These processing options were evaluated on criteria appropriate to the Advanced Life Support System and BIO-Plex application including: product quality, product stability, waste production, risk, energy needs, labor requirements, utilization of nonrenewable resources, usefulness of by-products, and versatility and mass of equipment to determine the most appropriate ALS edible oil-processing operation.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗
DOE OSTI2023

Biostimulation of Salicornia europaea L. crops with plant growth-promoting bacteria in laboratory and field conditions: effects on growth and metabolite profile

Abstract Aim The objective of the work was to assess the effect of biostimulation with selected plant growth-promoting bacteria on growth and metabolite profile of Salicornia europaea. Methods and results Salicornia europaea seeds were inoculated with different combinations of plant growth-promoting bacteria Brevibacterium casei EB3, Pseudomonas oryzihabitans RL18, and Bacillus aryabhattai SP20. Plants germinated from inoculated seeds were grown either in laboratory conditions or in a saline crop field. Fresh and dry weight were determined at the end of the experiment, for biomass quantification. The microbiological quality of fresh shoots for human consumption as salad greens was assessed, and the persistence of the inoculated strains in the plant rhizosphere was confirmed by next-generation sequencing (Illumina) of the 16S rDNA gene. The primary metabolite profile of biostimulated plants was characterized by GC–TOF-MS. In laboratory conditions, inoculation with the two strains Br. casei EB3 and Ps. oryzihabitans RL18 caused the most significant increase in biomass production (fresh and dry weight), and caused a shift in the central metabolic pathways of inoculated plants toward amino acid biosynthesis. In the field experiment, no significant biostimulation effect was detected with any of the tested inoculants. Seed inoculation had no significant effect on the microbiological quality of the edible parts. The persistence of inoculants was confirmed in both experiments. Conclusions Manipulation of the plant microbiome can trigger primary metabolic reconfiguration and modulate the plant metabolism while promoting plant growth.

Ferreira, Maria J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Carbon balance in bioregenerative life support systems: some effects of system closure, waste management, and crop harvest index

In Advanced Life Support (ALS) systems with bioregenerative components, plant photosynthesis would be used to produce O2 and food, while removing CO2. Much of the plant biomass would be inedible and hence must be considered in waste management. This waste could be oxidized (e.g., incinerated or aerobically digested) to resupply CO2 to the plants, but this would not be needed unless the system were highly closed with regard to food. For example, in a partially closed system where some of the food is grown and some is imported, CO2 from oxidized waste when combined with crew and microbial respiration could exceed the CO2 removal capability of the plants. Moreover, it would consume some O2 produced from photosynthesis that could have been used by the crew. For partially closed systems it would be more appropriate to store or find other uses for the inedible biomass and excess carbon, such as generating soils or growing woody plants (e.g., dwarf fruit trees). Regardless of system closure, high harvest crops (i.e., crops with a high edible to total biomass ratio) would increase food production per unit area and O2 yields for systems where waste biomass is oxidized to recycle CO2. Such interlinking effects between the plants and waste treatment strategies point out the importance of oxidizing only that amount of waste needed to optimize system performance. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of COSPAR.

NASA Discipline Life Support Systems↗
NASA NTRS2019

Leafy Greens Grown on the International Space Station May Provide a Nutritious Supplement to Astronauts' Diet

Supplemental safe food production has been an essential goal of NASA to meet the nutritional needs of astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) as well as for future long duration missions to the moon and beyond. Food crops grown in space experience different environmental conditions than plants grown on Earth (i.e. microgravity and spaceflight physical sciences impacts). To test the growth methods and effects of the space environment, red romaine lettuce Lactuca sativa cv. 'Outredgeous', was grown in Veggie plant growth chambers on the ISS. Microbiological food safety of the plants grown on the ISS was determined by heterotrophic plate counts to assess total microbial load for bacteria and fungi as well as screening for specific pathogens and isolate identification. Molecular characterization was completed using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to provide valuable information on the taxonomic composition and community structure of the plant microbiome. Chemical analyses of plant tissue were conducted to understand spaceflight-induced changes in key elements in the space diet, phenolics, anthocyanin levels, and Oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), a measure of antioxidant capacity. Three growth tests of red romaine lettuce were completed on ISS, VEG-01A, VEG-01B, and VEG-03A. Plants were harvested using two harvest methods, either a single terminal harvest (after 33 days) or cut-and-come-again repetitive harvesting (64 days total growth). Ground controls were grown simultaneously with a delay to accommodate condition monitoring and replication. A comparison of the plant tissue returned to Earth showed leaves from the second grow-out had significantly higher bacterial counts than the preceding or subsequent growth test or any of the ground controls. Fungal counts were significantly higher on the final cut-and-come-again harvest of the third grow out. None of the potential foodborne pathogens that were screened for were detected. Bacterial and fungal isolate identification and community characterization indicated similar diversity between VEG-01A and VEG-01B growth tests, however, there appeared to be subtle differences in diversity and distribution among the three growth tests. Chemical analysis of plant tissue revealed significant variation in a few elemental data, but variation in levels of phenolics, anthocyanins, and ORAC was not significantly different. This study indicated that leafy vegetable crops could safely provide an edible supplement to astronauts' diet, and our analysis provided baseline data for continual operation of the Veggie plant growth units on ISS. This research was funded by NASA's space biology program.

Food Production↗
NASA NTRS1998

Cultivation of Tomato Tissues Capable of Forming Flowers and Fruits in Vitro

The final phase of this research project was designed to develop a practical method for producing a steady supply of fresh cherry tomato fruits over a period of several months, for possible use as a fresh vegetable supplement to a standard diet of astronauts on extended missions. This effort was successful. We were able to excise immature flowers from Pixie tomato plants grown in a controlled condition room, implant them on artificial media under aseptic conditions, and get them to develop into edible fruits in a little over a month. The medium (Murashige-Skoog) was purchased from Sigma, supplemented with sugar plus a synthetic analog of the plant hormone cytokinin, and adjusted to pH 5.8. A temperature of at least 25 C and visible light helped to produce ripe red fruits within 7 weeks. To ensure a steady supply of such tomatoes, we found it possible to store the explanted flower buds in MS medium at 5 C for at least 6 weeks without significant loss of ability to develop into fruits. This means that many containers could be prepared before launch and put into a refrigerator; a convenient number could then be removed periodically to guarantee a succession of harvests during the life of an extended mission. Details are found in the attached reprints. Subsequent applications for funds for flight or continued research were denied, and the project was terminated.

Galston, Arthur W.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Characterization of the Water Soluble Component of Inedible Residue from Candidate CELSS Crops

Recycling of inorganic nutrients required for plant growth will be a necessary component of a fully closed, bioregenerative life support system. This research characterized the recovery of plant nutrients from the inedible fraction of three crop types (wheat, potato, and soybean) by soaking, or leaching, in water. A considerable portion of the dry weight of the inedible biomass was readily soluble (29 percent for soybean, 43 percent for wheat, and 52 percent for potato). Greater weight loss from potato was a result of higher tissue concentrations of potassium, nitrate, and phosphate. Approximately 25 percent of the organic content of the biomass was water soluble, while the majority of most inorganic nutrients, except for calcium and iron, were recovered in the leachate. Direct use of the leachates in hydroponic media could provide between 40-90 percent of plant nutrient demands for wheat, and 20-50 percent of demand for soybean and potato. Further evaluation of leaching as a component of resource recovery scheme in a bioregenerative system requires study of (1) utilization of plant leachates in hydroponic plant culture; and (2) conversion of organic material (both soluble and insoluble) into edible, or other useful, products.

Garland, Jay↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Changes in Plants Developed from Imbibed Seeds Irradiated by Simulated Solar Particle Events

One of the major concerns for long-term exploration missions beyond the Earth’s magnetosphere is radiation risk primarily from solar particle events (SPEs) and galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). With the goal of manned Mars exploration, the production of fresh food during long duration space missions may provide nutritional supplementation and benefit astronauts’ behavioral health. However, the effects of space radiation on plants and plant propagules have not been sufficiently investigated and characterized. In this study, we evaluated the effect of simulated GCRs on dry seeds of mizuna mustard, ‘Outredgeous’ red romaine lettuce, and ‘Red Robin’ dwarf tomato. Seeds were exposed to various doses of simulated GCRs (0, 40, and 80 cGy), either acutely or at a low dose rate (LDR), using the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) facility at Brookhaven National Lab (BNL). Control and irradiated seeds were planted and maintained under space-vehicle relevant controlled environment conditions. Plant/fruit morphometrics and edible fresh mass were measured. In addition, nutrient analyses were performed for both mizuna and ripe tomatoe fruit. Seedlings from irradiated seeds (both 40 cGy and 80 cGy) showed significant changes in cotyledon development, but not in root length or morphology. Interestingly, significant changes in vitamin content were found in mizuna grown from 80 cGy (LDR) irradiated seeds. In addition, 80 cGy (LDR) simulated GCRs significantly affected lettuce and tomato seed quality, delayed tomato fruiting, and reduced the total yield of tomato. Generally, compared to 80 cGy, 40 cGy (LDR) of simulated GCRs displayed some impacts to the seeds and seedlings, but to a much lesser degree. (This study was supported by NASA Human Research Program.)

J.T. Richards↗
NASA NTRS2016

LED Lighting and Plant Growth: Supplemental LED Effects on Development

The growth of plants aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will play a pivotal role in advancing human space exploration to further uncharted destinations. Not only will plants be useful for oxygen production and carbon dioxide reduction, they will also serve as a supplemental food source for the astronaut diet. Research indicates that the most efficient way for these crops to be grown is by using electric lighting – specifically light-emitting diodes (LED) due to their several unique advantages. One of these advantages includes the potential for selecting certain wavelengths. By isolating certain lights, the effects of specific wavelengths on plant growth can be made clearer. This research project examined plant morphology, chlorophyll, biomass production, and nutrient synthesis in ‘Outredgeous’ red romaine lettuce grown under six LED light treatments of white (W), W + blue (B), W + green (G), W + red (R), W + far red (FR), and a Heliospectra lamp (Helio) (-composed of B+G+R+FR LEDs without W LEDS-). It was consistently found that the lettuce grown under the Helio, W + FR, W + R, and W + G treatments all showed improved physiology in terms of shoot length, shoot diameter, fresh mass, and dry mass relative to the W control. The Helio, W + FR, and W + G treatments exhibited significantly larger leaf areas while the Helio and W + FR treatments also produced more leaves on average at 28 days after planting (DAP). The W (control) and W + B treatments showed the highest accumulation of chlorophyll at 28 DAP. In conclusion, lettuce grown under the Helio treatment may be the overall most beneficial for supplementing the astronaut diet in terms of total edible biomass produced in a 28 day crop cycle.

LED↗
NASA NTRS1981

Unconventional processes for food regeneration in space - An overview

Alternatives to conventional plant agriculture for the regeneration of food during space missions of extended duration are examined. The options considered, which may be used in combination with conventional agriculture, include the production of food from plant wastes, the chemical synthesis of food from carbon dioxide and other simple molecules or the substitution of edible chemicals, and the use of microrganisms for food and oxygen regeneration, with suitable processing. A comparison of solar energy conversion efficiencies is presented for nonphotosynthetic bacteria grown on hydrogen and algal systems photosynthetically, and it is shown that hydrogen bacteria are potentially more attractive than photosynthetic algae using artificial light. Weight-volume requirements for the conventional plant, algae and hydrogen bacteria systems are also compared to demonstrate the advantages of microbial systems.

Stokes, B. O.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Pick-and-Eat Salad-Crop Productivity, Nutritional Value, and Acceptability to Supplement the ISS Food System

The capability to grow nutritious, palatable food for crew consumption during spaceflight has the potential to provide health-promoting, bioavailable nutrients, enhance the dietary experience, and reduce launch mass as we move toward longer-duration missions. However, studies of edible produce during spaceflight have been limited, leaving a significant knowledge gap in the methods required to grow safe, acceptable, nutritious crops for consumption in space. Researchers from Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center, Purdue University and ORBITEC have teamed up to explore the potential for plant growth and food production on the International Space Station (ISS) and future exploration missions. KSC, Purdue, and ORBITEC bring a history of plant and plant-microbial interaction research for ISS and for future bioregenerative life support systems. JSC brings expertise in Advanced Food Technology (AFT), Behavioral Health and Performance (BHP), and statistics. The Veggie vegetable-production system on the ISS offers an opportunity to develop a pick-and-eat fresh vegetable component to the ISS food system as a first step to bioregenerative supplemental food production. We propose growing salad plants in the Veggie unit during spaceflight, focusing on the impact of light quality and fertilizer formulation on crop morphology, edible biomass yield, microbial food safety, organoleptic acceptability, nutritional value, and behavioral health benefits of the fresh produce. The first phase of the project will involve flight tests using leafy greens, with a small Chinese cabbage variety, Tokyo bekana, previously down selected through a series of research tests as a suitable candidate. The second phase will focus on dwarf tomato. Down selection of candidate varieties have been performed, and the dwarf cultivar Red Robin has been selected as the test crop. Four light treatments and three fertilizer treatments will be tested for each crop on the ground, to down select to two light treatments and one fertilizer treatment to test on ISS. Our work will help define light colors, levels, and horticultural best practices to achieve high yields of safe, nutritious leafy greens and tomatoes to supplement a space diet of prepackaged food. Our final deliverable will be the development of growth protocols for these crops in a spaceflight vegetable production system. With this work, and potentially with other pending joint projects, we will continue the synergistic research to help close gaps in the human research roadmap, and enable humans to venture to Mars and beyond. This research was co-funded by the Human Research Program and Space Biology (MTL1075) in the ILSRA 2015 NRA call.

Behavioral Health↗