Also take a look at our rendering and modelling (Room Folder)
For several years, researchers alongside great space agencies have been looking forward to finding the most suitable way to harvest in long-distance traveling due to the fact that for now, it seems impossible to restock their basic needs. This project intends to set a proposal for a sustainable cropping system for our astronauts to ensure their daily nutrients considering the negative impact weightlessness may cause to their body systems.
This could be visualized as an artificial portable ecosystem in which conditions such as watering, CO2 production, airflow, space-radiation protection, temperature, light absorbance, and humidity are thoroughly controlled with the help of biological engineered tricks.
Water supply will take place with the use of Potassium Polyacrylate mostly known by the name of hydrogel crystals for the irrigation of plants possess a lot of benefits, one of which is gradually providing water to plants as they need it by osmosis. To mention a few main characteristics of this polymer (Graciela, 2016): it absorbs one hundred times its weight; it is chemically inactive, and when having any contact with water it acts as a “water tank”.
Its use in agriculture is very useful and presents advantages within it, it can improve the plant growth and survival, improve the soil characteristics retention, availability of water, aeration, among others), it can reduce the use of water by up to 50%. It adapts to the soil, climate, and any type of plant, by protecting them against evaporation and draining
Some of the benefits of using this polymer for the irrigation system are:
Hydration capacity (water storage) Reduces water stress in plants Increases the germination and plant growth Avoids the substrate compaction and scrabs formation reduces nutritive substances loss Prevents the erosion It can be active for many years It's biodegradable And they don't just absorb water but nutrients such as calcium and magnesium.
Additionally, it is well-known that plants require CO2 in their fundamental photosynthesis process, however, the question remains: how, apart from cabine CO2 extraction, can we ensure plants the specific amount needed?: aerobic microorganisms.
These are excellent suppliers in controlled environments and those long distances’ impact can be reduced by 100% using cryogenia. (Pérez-Loredo, 2021) There are only a few considerations, including setting ideal conditions and the usage of a cryoprotectant. This method was chosen on the state of mind that it is one of the most viable ways to preserve living organisms. On the other hand, airflow is vital for an ideal plant-growth process and the easiest and most economical solution is letting the ship's airflow through the room with the help of extractors.
One of the most important factors to be considered is space radiation, which is every protonic energy and atom nuclei interaction caused by several natural phenomena. The negative impact can be cushioned with hydrogen or thin layers of lead, water, or polyethylene in the room. This is considered to be an 8 deep, 5.5 deep, 2 tall meters room, with special containers used as plant drawers that, within previously mentioned tricks, infrared light, highly sensitive sensors, and thermometers are equipped to keep track of the status of the plants.
Last and most important fact: What can we grow that is beneficial to our crew?
The nutrition for humans differ while being in space, their daily calorie intake must be 2800 to 3700 kcal (American Heart Association, 2018), prioritizing diverse macros and micros such as the protein intake so the muscle mass won’t decrease radically, or the calcium and vitamin D so bones don't lose density.
The astronauts need to be careful with what they consume according to Smith et al., (2013), for instance, their sodium intake tends to be very elevated due to the way food is preserved, so it has been reformulated to reduce its intake by about 3 g/day. We used NASA’s SB Mission-design to know the length of the voyage our astronauts may face. On the other hand, there's Vitamin D, a critical nutrient, on account of the lack of exposure to direct sunlight given that the spacecraft is shielded to block UV light, therefore to acquire it they must consume it on a daily basis in an amount of 800 IU per day. In addition, there's the vitamin K, a vitamin that has been proposed to avoid/decrease bone loss given that studies showed decreased vitamin K status when losing bone mass. As a matter of fact, the ISS menu must contain 20 ± 6 mg/day of iron 2 g more than the current U.S. dietary reference intake dictates.
As said, nutrients such as iron, calcium, potassium B vitamins, magnesium, selenium, choline, vitamin C and fiber, provide a lot of benefits in general for bones (bone structure and strength), metabolism (function as bulking agents), mental health (plays a role in mood, muscle control & learning and memory), heart health (decrease the risk of heart disease), and blood pressure (prevent high blood pressure) (Ware, 2019), thus, the chosen food is meant to provide all these nutrients so the astronauts health won’t be harmed.
Chickpeas (1 cup):
267 calories 14.4 g of protein 4.2 g of fat 44.7 g carbohydrates 12.5 g of fiber 80.4 calcium mg 4.7 iron mg 78.7 magnesium mg 274 phosphorous mg 474 potasium mg 2.5 zinc mg 0.6 ug of copper 6.1 ug of selenium 2.1 mg of Vitamin C Pholate: 280 ug Choline: 69.7 mg Beta carotene: 26.2 ug Vitamin E: 0.6 mg Vitamin K: 6.6 ug Great drought resistance, freedom from most pests, capacity to fix nitrogen, have long seasons of production, long demand for water, and almost no effort to grow them. (Growing Chickpeas, n.d.) Rapid growth in warm weather conditions. 7-13 cm between plants and 22-25 between rows
Beans (half a cup):
114 calories 7.62 g of protein 0.46 g of fat 20.7 g carbohydrates 7.5 g of fiber 0.28 g of sugars 23 mg of calcium 1.81 mg of iron 60 mg of magnesium 120 mg of phosphorous 305 mg of potasium 1 mg of sodium 0.96 mg of zinc Tiamine: 0.21 mg Niacine: 0.434 mg Pholate: 128 ug Vitamin K: 2.8 mg
Beans are easy to grow and they are one of the most rewarding crops, however, it depends on the way they are planted (DeJohn, 2021) There are two, and their differences rely on the planting technique: pole beans and bush beans. They also offer a wide range of phyto nutrients and atioxidant properties
Lentils (half a cup):
150 calories 12 g of protein 0.5 g of fat 25 g carbohydrates Calcium: 12 mg Iron: 3 mg Potasium: 273 mg Pholate: 55 ug Great providers of Manganese, Phosphorus, Thiamin, Vitamin B-6, Riboflavin, magnesium, copper, selenium, and zinc Lentils can grow up to 35-60 cm, and they must be planted 15-20 cm apart. They germinate 80-110 days after being planted, it must be cut when it is 50% dried. The main nutrients they use are nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium (Reynoso, 2016).
Peas
Oyster Mushrooms (148 g)
49 calories 4.9 g of protein 0.6 g of fat 9 g carbohydrates Sodium: 27 mg Vitamin D: 1.04 ug Calcium: 4.44 mg Iron: 1.97 mg Potasium: 622 mg Also important providers of niacine, Votamin D-5, Pholate, Choline, Phosphorous and Zinc. These mushrooms are also a source of antioxidants, offer immune-supportive and gut health benefits. (Kubala, 2021).
and more…
We also highly recommend beginning research trials that include supplementation such as whey protein and creatine for the essential amino acids consumption; solubility points in weightless environments should be tested. With a hand of extensive research, a collaboration between space agencies, and fresh and innovative ideas such as ours, space travel is getting closer to safer and more sustainable ways.
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