Space Plantitos

Frootsy

High-Level Project Summary

Our project title, as mentioned before, is our own hydroponics system. The name "Frootsy" is derived from the word Floating Root System. These systems are a process to skip soil and to grow from water. Our aim for this challenge is to design a supplemental crop production system that supports a crew on a long-duration exploration mission to Mars and back to Earth--the estimated time of travelling to Mars is between seven to ten months. We, as a group, must create a viable and sustainable food source that can withstand the challenges of space travel. Moreover, our duty is to provide a method of sustainable agriculture that will provide enough food supplements for a crew of 4-6 people.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://www.canva.com/design/DAErpaVkv0M/fQ1AlFBlxydjzPgrW4cLTw/view?utm_content=DAErpaVkv0M&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton

Link to Final Project

https://www.canva.com/design/DAErutzlWRE/5xkhrlokkneQtnpZZBa3Qw/view?utm_content=DAErutzlWRE&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=sharebutton

Detailed Project Description

Our project, with the support of NASA’s Advanced Plant Habitat, or APH. The name “Frootsy” is the shortened term for “Floating Root Hydroponic System.” Hydroponic systems are a way to skip the soil and grow crops directly in nutrient-rich water. There are multiple approaches to designing hydroponic systems (in our case, we chose the floating root system), but the core elements for agriculture are essentially the same, being freshwater, oxygen, root support, nutrients, and light. This is where NASA’s APH comes into play because such a mechanical chamber can provide the majority of the core elements to support our hydroponic system. To be more specific, NASA’s APH has a water recovery and distribution subassembly that regulates water distribution. It also has an air filtration assembly that provides filtered air. It also has an environmental control system that controls the temperature, humidity, and airflow. It also has a growth light assembly that controls the lighting system. And lastly, it also has carbon dioxide bottles, water reservoirs, and nitrogen regulation.

Space Agency Data

For our Space Agency Data, we have used a portion of details regarding our project. We have used the image and the description of the Advanced Plant Habitat, or APH. The data of NASA was really crucial and essential for our general project because it will support our whole project proposal and it will be beneficial for the engineers of NASA. Our source is

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

Hackathon Journey

The Experience in the Space Apps Challenge was really exciting but at the same time, nervous about it. We as a team is our first time joining a global competition such as this, and it is a big honour to be included and to participate on behalf of our school, St. Joseph's Academy. During our hackathon journey, we have learned everything and we have implemented it on our project demo. We also met our mentors and they have guided us throughout this journey. This experience was fun and the lessons that we have learned here in the hackathon will be useful and can create a huge impact on our performance in the long run. Every recommendation and suggestion that comes from the professors, mentors, and advisers will be really crucial for project to be innovative, well-rounded, and optimized as possible.