Automatic system for seedling growth onboard of unmanned spacecrafts
- Paper number
IAC-05-A2.6.05
- Author
Dr. Veronica De Micco, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Raimondo Fortezza, MARS s.r.l., Italy
- Coauthor
Dr. Dario Castagnolo, MARS s.r.l., Italy
- Coauthor
Mr. Pasquale Eduardo, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy
- Coauthor
Mr. Marco Haladich, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy
- Coauthor
Mr. Michele Scala, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy
- Coauthor
Prof. Giovanna Aronne, University of Naples "Federico II", Italy
- Year
2005
- Abstract
The realisation of long-duration missions, and the human permanence onboard of Space stations, necessitates the development of bio-regenerative systems. Plants are the key components of these systems because they: a) regenerate oxygen in the pressurised modules through photosynthesis; b) recover water by transpiration; c) recycle liquid waste of the crew; d) provide fresh food for the integration of crew diet. In the paper the phases for the design and assemblage of an automatic growth support system for sprouts production is presented. This work was part of the project named SAYSOY - Space Apparatus to Yield SOY sprouts - that was funded within the Education programmes of ESA and was selected for the flight onboard of Foton M2 satellite. Foton is primarily used for experiments in physics and materials science, but is also used for biology and radiation dose experiments. Foton platform provides experimental conditions in the growth environment, (temperature, atmosphere, pressure and g-levels, etc.), as well as late access and early retrieval, which are suitable for the experiment proposed. Moreover, the duration of microgravity conditions is proportioned to the period of green-soy sprouts production. The hardware is fully automatic and does not require any external control signal. The hardware can be programmed to: a) distribute water for the germination of seeds and seedlings growth; b) distribute chemical fixative to store seedlings for subsequent anatomical analyses after retrieval; c) record temperature and humidity levels to recreate the same environmental conditions in the 1g control; d) create light wind for air circulation. It is made of three modules: a) floor unit: it accommodates the electronic card, the battery package and a miniaturized fan; b) intermediate unit: it lodges the hydraulic circuit and the liquid containers with water and chemical fixative; c) upper unit: it is the growth chamber where seeds are placed. Biological and engineering tests have been successfully conducted during all the phases of the experiment and will be presented Simulations of fluids dynamics have been performed and they illustrated that the flow rate is enough to produce air moving. Methods for the biological sterilization of all the hardware components and of seeds have been developed. The paper will present the design of the experiment and the plan for future evolution. The hardware is designed in a way that after recovering of the capsule, the upper layer can be removed, submerged in a container filled with the same chemical fixative and transferred to the laboratories for subsequent biometry and microscopy analyses. The electronic card will be also recovered to download data about temperature and humidity experienced during the flight and recorded by probes. These data will be used for the control experiment in 1-g or simulated microgravity (on a rotating platform) on Earth.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-A2.6.05.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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