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A long-duration microgravity environment has numerous detrimental effects on the human physiology. The most obvious solution for this problem related to long duration space exploration missions is to remedy the lack of gravity. This could be done using short arm human centrifuges but they do not seem to be sufficiently effective, perhaps because of the short duration exposure of this countermeasure and/or the huge body gravity gradient. New views have to be investigated, such as to see if a (very) long-arm rotating system generating a continuous 1 g or partial gravity field might resolve this issue. Besides the expected benefits regarding astronauts' microgravity pathologies, additionally the spacecraft itself, its on-board (sub-)systems and procedures might benefit from a rotating configuration. In this paper we address very briefly the medical issues, but the work is mainly focused on the advantages regarding engineering, operations, life support, safety and budget of having a constantly rotating spacecraft first in Low Earth Orbit and later for long duration missions to Mars. A large rotating spacecraft is feasible and affordable to build, operate and maintain. It has advantages for governmental and commercial use but also in light of the expected increase in space tourism. It will also save crew time and billions of dollars now being spent to counteract the effects of microgravity. A continuous rotating spacecraft providing Artificial Gravity will: • Improve crew health and wellbeing. • Improve mission safety and success. • Reduce costs significantly. • Simplify numerous operations in flight. • Provides the use of 1 g verified systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper presents the results of a study performed during the Project Work Activity by students of the second edition of the International Master Course in SpacE Exploration and Development Systems (SEEDS). The study focused on the design of a Permanent Human mOon Exploration BasE (PHOEBE) located in the Moon South Pole region and its supporting infrastructures. Among all the Moon base building blocks identified and studied, the paper analyzes the impact of a greenhouse, denominated Food And Revitalization Module (FARM), over the feasibility of the human Moon settlement, considering PHOEBE lifetime of 20 years. The objective of the FARM project has been to design a plant growth chamber module to be integrated in a bio-regenerative life support system for PHOEBE and to evaluate the impact of various bio-regenerative system concepts with respect to a typical physico-chemical ECLS system. The design process began with a system analysis, essentially devoted to the study of the required functionalities of the system. A crop analysis has been performed to analyze the plant performances and from these results, different options of diet/crop combinations have been evaluated, starting from a greenhouse able to fulfill almost 100% of all the nutritional needs of the crew, and scaling down to less than 50% of the needs, with food integrations from Earth. The most impacting subsystems have been studied and a possible configuration (both internally and externally) has been designed. The results of the trade-off, based on an Equivalent System Mass approach, showed that after 11 years one greenhouse with cultivation area of 538m2 and cultivation volume of 222m3 was adequate for the diet of 18 astronauts on the permanent Moon base, based on 84% of vegetarian food produced on the base and a remaining 16% of food re-supplied from Earth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Space exploration is demanding longer lasting human missions and water resupply from Earth will become increasingly unrealistic. In a near future, the spacecraft water monitoring systems will require technological advances to promptly identify and counteract contingent events of waterborne microbial contamination, posing health risks to astronauts with lowered immune responsiveness. The search for bio-analytical approaches, alternative to those applied on Earth by cultivation-dependent methods, is pushed by the compelling need to limit waste disposal and avoid microbial regrowth from analytical carryovers. Prospective technologies will be selected only if first validated in a flight-like environment, by following basic principles, advantages, and limitations beyond their current applications on Earth. Starting from the water monitoring activities applied on the International Space Station, we provide a critical overview of the nucleic acid amplification-based approaches (i.e., loop-mediated isothermal amplification, quantitative PCR, and high-throughput sequencing) and early-warning methods for total microbial load assessments (i.e., ATP-metry, flow cytometry), already used at a high readiness level aboard crewed space vehicles. Our findings suggest that the forthcoming space applications of mature technologies will be necessarily bounded by a compromise between analytical performances (e.g., speed to results, identification depth, reproducibility, multiparametricity) and detrimental technical requirements (e.g., reagent usage, waste production, operator skills, crew time). As space exploration progresses toward extended missions to Moon and Mars, miniaturized systems that also minimize crew involvement in their end-to-end operation are likely applicable on the long-term and suitable for the in-flight water and microbiological research. Image 1 • Space exploration is demanding longer lasting human missions with no water resupply. • Water technologies at high readiness level complement microbial monitoring in space. • Miniaturized biomolecular techniques and real-time monitoring systems are reviewed. • A single technological solution cannot meet the requirements of water monitoring. • Compromises between analytical performances and technical issues are critical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]