1. Lessons Learned from Biosphere 2 and Laboratory Biosphere Closed Systems Experiments for the Mars On Earth Project
- Author
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William F. Dempster, A. Alling, S. Silverstone, Mark Nelson, Mark van Thillo, and John P. Allen
- Subjects
business.industry ,Ecology ,Environmental resource management ,Closed ecological system ,Biosphere ,General Medicine ,Cubic metre ,Mars Exploration Program ,Biosphere 2 ,Human waste ,Light intensity ,Environmental science ,business ,Life support system - Abstract
Mars On Earth® (MOE) is a demonstration/research project that will develop systems for maintaining 4 people in a sustainable (bioregenerative) life support system on Mars. The overall design will address not only the functional requirements for maintaining long term human habitation in a sustainable artificial environment, but the aesthetic need for beauty and nutritional/psychological importance of a diversity of foods which has been noticeably lacking in most space settlement designs. Key features selected for the Mars On Earth® life support system build on the experience of operating Biosphere 2 as a closed ecological system facility from 1991-1994, its smaller 400 cubic meter test module and Laboratory Biosphere, a cylindrical steel chamber with horizontal axis 3.68 meters long and 3.65 meters in diameter. Future Mars On Earth® agriculture/atmospheric research will include: determining optimal light levels for growth of a variety of crops, energy trade-offs for agriculture (e.g. light intensity vs. required area), optimal design of soil-based agriculture/horticulture systems, strategies for safe re-use of human waste products, and maintaining atmospheric balance between people, plants and soils.
- Published
- 2005
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