The Universals

https://youtu.be/xjz-6dEImdU

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XhBphbSe2PB1vPNtwxCMtWpRSxgEtkMg?usp=sharing

Challenges:

• Radiation resistance
• Temperature control of the chamber
• Large scale
• Efficient
• Requiring low nutrient and water
• Using Fungi and microgreens to our benefit (Caution: Spores can contaminate )
• Maintaining humidity since its hard to in zero gravity

Problems:

• Food for long-range journeys
• Efficient and effective
• Low cost
• Low weight
• High production rate
• Small size

Our solution:

As humans, we have evolved and have become accustomed to having daily sources of food and nutrients. When we consume food, it is digested and then absorbed as fuel. It is a phenomenon mechanism that allows humans to gain energy, similar to how a robot would recharge in its designated station. With that said, the notion of consuming food or fruits daily has spawned a barrier for deep space exploration. Although pre-packaged foods with a minimum of 9 months of shelf life have been developed, they are not as nutrient-dense, pleasant, and healthy to eat as freshly produced crops. In order to stay active and energetic, astronauts require to eat a variety of foods with different vitamins and nutrients that are not always available in pre-packaged food. Thence, technologically advanced and innovative systems and mechanisms have to be developed to produce crops in an efficient and effective manner.

We designed a compact production system, capable of supplementing the meal for at least 4 astronauts. The mechanism has three main components, with the first and most significant one being the production chambers. There are seven hexagonal chambers, with each having its own dedicated light sensor and RGB, allowing for the production of different types of plants simultaneously. In addition, hexagonal shapes maximize space efficiency while making each chamber detachable and portable. Scientists and astronauts onboard could utilize this feature to perform experiments in a more time-efficient manner, since they can detach and move the chamber to another room and perform experiments on it instantly. The second most impactful feature of the production system is in the area below the production chambers. The cubicle will include the water and air filtrations and provides NASA with the option of integrating their already-developed technologies such as Plant Habitat Avionics Real-Time Manager in EXPRESS Rack (PHARMER) used in Advanced Habitat Planet (AHP). NASA does not need to modify or develop any new technologies to use this system. The third component of the production system is the last piece that will make the system work, which is naturally the physical computer. It is going to be a microcontroller that is programmed to perform certain actions such as temperature and light control automatically, however, the system is not going to be fully automatic. In a research study published in the American Journal of Public Health, researchers discovered gardening could prolong and strengthen an individual’s attention span, while another research published in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology found that interaction with plants and the act of gardening reduces stress and anxiety. For that reason, the microcontroller is not going to be programmed to complete each task relating to the production system, and instead, the astronauts will be encouraged to spend time interacting with the plants. The three main components stated above will work cohesively together to deliver fresh crops, preferably microgreens, effectively.

The production system is more advantageous compared to other solutions, since it is scalable, cost- and time-efficient, and has a lower mass. Firstly, by simply enlarging the outer chassis, the system could include space for more or bigger chambers. The scientists and engineers could optimize the size and number of chambers in the production system based on how much time it is going to take for the astronauts to reach their destination. Secondly, more than seven units of chambers could be taken into space, so that if the astronauts have detached and taken one of the chambers to perform experiments on it, the extra chambers could replace it and be used to produce more fresh crops. This could allow for more time-efficient operations. Thirdly, since the system is able to use already-built technologies in the APH, the potential cost of the solution is drastically reduced, comparing it to other solutions that might tackle the problem from scratch. Fourthly, the system is mainly composed of Kevlar-reinforced nylon, which is a light but strong material. The total mass of the system is 212kg or 2.120E+ 05cm3 (we brought it down from 1400 kgs), which is presumably less than the mass of AHP, excluding all the technologies. Less weight leads to less thrust required to launch the production system into space, which also contributes to cost. With all the advantages, however, the system will still perform the fundamental tasks effectively.

Plants can be grown in the chambers, using the clay substrate that is connected to pressured water pipelines and oxygen tubes. The light sensors and RGB work together collaboratively to deliver the best lighting based on the type of plant that is being grown. Although the system is compatible with any plant, we suggest for the astronauts assign most chambers to the production of microgreens. Firstly, they are more nutrition-dense. According to research, microgreens can be up to nine times more concentrated with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants compared to mature greens. Secondly, microgreens lead to lower chances of disease infection due to higher concentrations of different vitamins and nutritious compounds. Overall, microgreens could help astronauts keep a healthy body in space, and therefore, it is suggested as the plant to grow in the chambers.

To conclude, we have designed and developed a production system, capable of providing astronauts with adequate food and nutrition suited for deep space exploration, with special features that also make it attractive for experiments and time-efficiency.

• The produce can supplement at least four astronauts
• We are mainly going to grow microgreens since they are easy to grow and nutrient-dense.
• We feel like it should be semi-automatic since growing plants has many psychological benefits and would reduce the chance of depression in astronauts traveling in outer space.
• We designed a compact prototype that is still a work in progress, but we feel like it would be a step forward to growing fresh produce in space.
• We would like to also add a cooking system with induction cooking and a few recipes
• We are going to use Omega-3 fatty acids as a base to fulfill nutritional needs and satiety.
• These Omega-3 fatty acids will be produced by using a strain of Yarrowia lipolytica.
• The system will have 7 detachable hexagon growing chambers. We chose the honeycomb design as the most compact design.
• New versions could have a lot more chambers based on the number of astronauts.
• Material: Kevlar reinforced nylon
• Size: 1.5 meters tall and 1 meter long and wide [since it is a prototype, it is not completely accurate.]

The advantage over existing systems:

• It's more compact
• Portability of chambers
• Less contamination
• Grow more
• Grow multiple different plants simultaneously with each requiring different RGB, water supply, nutrients, etc.
• Different orientations, since there is no gravity
• This prototype can easily fit into the storage/stowage of the spacecraft (1.5 meters cube)

“Advanced Plant Habitat.” National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 

Dunbar, Brian. “Growing Plants in Space.” Edited by Anna Heiney, NASA, NASA, 9 Apr. 2019, 

"Veggie: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

How NASA Will Protect Astronauts From Space Radiation at the Moon

The Hackathon experience was honestly awesome. It was our team's first, and we were so excited about it. Since we live in 4 different time zones, collaboration was definitely hard but we made it work. I learned a lot about leadership, 3D designing, Space technology, and other related topics. We choose this challenge because we felt like we could connect with the challenge and actually go deep into the topic. 2 people in our group already knew 3D designing and the other 2 help in finding resources, writing the script, etc. Another awesome thing I learned about this hackathon is that when there is the perfect leader, the hackathon is basically like an orchestra. We had a few issues with radiation and decided that microgreens would be the best because they don't grow for long, yet have similar or higher nutritional value to vegetables. We also found this strain of yeast that converts urine into Omega-3 Fatty acids. One of the serious issues we had was when our model of 1.5m x 1m x 1m weighted 1400 kg!! After working on it for the whole day, we got to make it as low as 210kg. If we were given more time, we would definitely love to work on this more and maybe also develop real-life simulations and find solutions to new problems.

Temperature on Earth and on the ISS

Temperature on Mars

Induction Cooking

Scientists Develop Yeast that Turns Astronaut Pee Into Food

How Are Plants Affected by Radiation

Space Food Packaging Facts

Microgreens what are they?

Broccoli microgreens

Types of microgreens

Fusion 360 educational version (3D editing software)

Grammarly

Google search

I-movie

Unsplash

Pixabay

Youtube

Google drive

#3D-design #3d #hardware #mars #space

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