RURU SPACE

Awards & Nominations

RURU SPACE has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!

Global Nominee

INTEGRATED SPACE CULTIVATION SYSTEM "RURU"

High-Level Project Summary

The "RURU" prototype is a deployable crop production system that fulfills the function of providing life support to plants under semi-controlled conditions; It has a command center, seed storage, water treatment, mechanical transport accessories and space for the development of the plant through omnigravitational hydroponics all presented in an ovoid and portable design, this proposal solves the challenge, as it will have a production of fresh vegetables supplemented with beneficial microorganisms meeting the nutritional requirements of a crew on a mission to Mars or back to Earth improving their personal welfare.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kBtY9afVuBK7NqChCXPC7f-KhbiNgEC0/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=108915639439917573671&rtpof=true&sd=true

Link to Final Project

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1wP7PDzxTICMGdV3TdvA1tGY9NMKK2S_G?usp=sharing

Detailed Project Description

The "RURU" prototype generates a favorable environment (temperature, RH, gases, pressure and others) for the growth of plants such as Solanum lycopersicum, Chenopodium album, Portulaca oleracea, Corryocactus brevistylus, Corryocactus brevistylus and Physalis peruviana, considering them as candidates for their high nutritional value and pharmaceutical potential. It has 2 lateral columns of culture in solid medium, one with the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the other with the cyanobacterium Spirulina platensis, genetically edited by CRISPR-Cas9 to increase its molecular repair against the existing radiation, additionally it will provide nutritional supplements that the plant cannot produce.

It has a seed store that is coated with a membrane composed of Bacillus subtilis spores and reinforced with graphene nanotubes for protection against ionizing radiation during transport, With respect to water resources, the system will reuse urine water by means of a brine processor (BPA) in conjunction with small-scale urine processing (UPA), which will be useful for the recirculation of the omnigravitational hydroponic crop, complemented by the phototranspiration process where water will be collected for human consumption. On the other hand, the data collected by the sensors and cameras will help the command center to understand how the parameters of high energy cosmic radiation, solar wind events and microgravitation influence the biological development and thus be able to implement an Artificial Intelligence, consisting of an autonomous learning through a MSF compilation software using the Linux-Windows operating system.

For the collection of gases in the spacecraft will be given by direct diffusion and on Mars will be used a gas filtration system to take advantage of CO2, suitable for plants, also has a folding system of 4 wheels of free movement and solar panels. Its ovoid shape facilitates an assembly together with the folding system that has a cover reinforced with polymers resistant to ionizing radiation, structurally fused with graphene particles, allowing greater elasticity and strength, achieving an increase in space for cultivation thanks to its mechanical properties. It is expected to achieve a semi-autonomous and easy-to-handle space agriculture so that astronauts can feed themselves in a way that complies with their basic nutritional diet during space travel, improving their physical and mental well-being.

Space Agency Data

We considered and used information from NASA on space travel, living conditions in space, applied technologies, collateral effects, and synthesized scientific information detailed in the references that inspired the project. Our prototype was strengthened using the coupling of a water reuse system, omnigravitational hydroponic cultivation technology, the cultivation of two microorganisms was implemented to reinforce the nutritional content, the storage of seeds and freeze-dried strains were established in a sealed place inside the spacecraft, being a solution to the problem of significant cosmic radiation in exploration missions outside the protection of the Earth's magnetic field through the use of an ovoid capsule.

Omnigravitational hydroponics:

The PWM system was taken as a reference for our prototype, which is in charge of nutrient supply ensuring an optimal water flow for seedling growth in space, the PWM hardware has dosing pumps for multiple parameter control.

https://science.nasa.gov/technology/technology-highlights/how-do-you-water-plants-in-space

Veggie

Taking criteria on seed storage and germination, many details were taken into consideration as it has been evidenced through this work all the varieties that have been possible to grow them in space. Despite these parameters we also considered an anti-radiation coating for seed storage and microbial strains.

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/veggie_fact_sheet_508.pdf

Advanced Plant Habitat (APH)

Part of our design was taken from the APH, an automated and controlled plant growth system, it will allow to have optimal CO2 and N2 levels for the seedling, regulation of humidity, T° and luminosity, integrated to an energy system, water distribution, all this system will send information in real time to a computer for its analysis.

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/advanced-plant-habitat.pdf

Water Processor Assembly (WPA) and Urine Processor Assembly (UPA)

Our prototype includes an operational system for the water recovery process through urine, since we are looking for a way to reuse the water for crops and for the use of the crew, we also have in consideration a storage tank for the water and a peristaltic pump, this will work so that the water does not float and can be channeled.

https://science.nasa.gov/technology/technology-highlights/how-do-you-water-plants-in-space

Brine processor

The system will allow more water to be recovered from the crew's urine, recovering 93.5% water, which would allow longer and longer voyages, closing the cycle of water reuse.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/new-brine-processor-increases-water-recycling-on-international-space-station

Vital system (ECLSS)

It is a system capable of controlling atmospheric pressure, oxygen levels (OGS, Elektron), waste management (Vozdukh) and water reuse (Sabatier System). Maintaining a pressure of 101.3 kpa, processing 9 kg/day of waste and recovering 85% of water.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISS_ECLSS

Mission Simulation Toolkit (MST):

A simulation framework to support autonomy research for remote exploration, providing a software testbed that includes simulated robotic platforms, sensors and environments, being developed as part of the Mission Simulation Facility (MSF) project to facilitate the development of autonomous planetary robotic missions, this being a key enabler for our project around plant growth regulation in our capsule.

https://ti.arc.nasa.gov/opensource/projects/mission-simulation-toolkit/

Hackathon Journey

In the Space Apps Challenge, our team "RURU SPACE" had the best experiences of collaboration with specialized mentors to solve nutritional food problems in space, we learned to organize our ideas and realize them in our prototype, combining the experiences and scientific knowledge of each member.

The motivation to choose this challenge arises from the need to implement large cultivation centers on Mars and spacecraft in order for astronauts to have a constant production of food with high nutritional value, on the other hand, on Earth there is an interest to improve agricultural production due to the shortage of food largely generated by human overpopulation. The setbacks were solved by organizing as a team, having extra meetings and reaching consensus.

Finally, we would like to thank the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for giving us the opportunity to belong to this great event for all public, showing our creative, scientific, innovative and intellectual side to solve crucial challenges for humanity; to the academics of the Universidad Privada Peruano Alemana for their mentoring talks and unconditional support; to José Ostolaza for his kindness and motivational words; to everyone who could make this challenge a reality.

References

Global Judging

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.