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Results for “BIOCONTROL SYSTEM”

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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1966

Oculometry.

Eye control in relation to visual process, showing derivation of position information from pointing of eyeball

EYE MOVEMENT↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Update on Feasibility of UV LEDs in a Spacecraft Wastewater Application

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) expands its scope and begins to venture into long-duration, manned space flights, the function and maintenance of spacecraft water systems becomes increasingly critical and difficult. New mission requirements limit opportunities for resupply and demand extended periods of uncrewed operations. Based on lessons learned from the International Space Station (ISS), one particular challenge of future spacecraft water systems will be maintaining adequate microbial control, especially in water subsystems and component-level elements, where effective long-duration biocontrol strategies do not currently exist. To ensure the reliability and redundancy in these systems, innovative technologies will be needed to ensure mission success. After proving feasibility of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) devices in flow-through applications in 2018, work focused on utilizing ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs) in a wastewater tank application. This paper gives an update on the tank testing that has been performed to date. Using this technology may reduce the need for consumable resupply, such as filters or biocides, and minimize crew time to make the repairs on exhausted and/or compromised systems. The ultimate rationale behind developing a UV disinfection system is to increase the stability of water systems as requirements for sterility and microbial control become more stringent for deep space missions. The resulting data from this study will be used to narrow down possible technology demonstrations for selected ISS locations to assess the use of UV technology on future exploration-class spacecraft systems.

Susan N. Gilbert↗
NASA NTRS2002

Composition and physiological profiling of sprout-associated microbial communities

The native microfloras of various types of sprouts (alfalfa, clover, sunflower, mung bean, and broccoli sprouts) were examined to assess the relative effects of sprout type and inoculum factors (i.e., sprout-growing facility, seed lot, and inoculation with sprout-derived inocula) on the microbial community structure of sprouts. Sprouts were sonicated for 7 min or hand shaken with glass beads for 2 min to recover native microfloras from the surface, and the resulting suspensions were diluted and plated. The culturable fraction was characterized by the density (log CFU/g), richness (e.g., number of types of bacteria), and diversity (e.g., microbial richness and evenness) of colonies on tryptic soy agar plates incubated for 48 h at 30 degrees C. The relative similarity between sprout-associated microbial communities was assessed with the use of community-level physiological profiles (CLPPs) based on patterns of utilization of 95 separate carbon sources. Aerobic plate counts of 7.96 +/- 0.91 log CFU/g of sprout tissue (fresh weight) were observed, with no statistically significant differences in microbial cell density, richness, or diversity due to sprout type, sprout-growing facility, or seed lot. CLPP analyses revealed that the microbial communities associated with alfalfa and clover sprouts are more similar than those associated with the other sprout types tested. Variability among sprout types was more extensive than any differences between microbial communities associated with alfalfa and clover sprouts from different sprout-growing facilities and seed lots. These results indicate that the subsequent testing of biocontrol agents should focus on similar organisms for alfalfa and clover, but alternative types may be most suitable for the other sprout types tested. The inoculation of alfalfa sprouts with communities derived from various sprout types had a significant, source-independent effect on microbial community structure, indicating that the process of inoculation alters the dynamics of community development regardless of the types of organisms involved.

NASA Center KSC↗