![]() They identify promising ones, isolated from a crop production system aboard the ISS. describe, rather than challenges, some opportunities: those brought by plant growth promoting bacteria. introduce an additional challenge: their results suggest that average ionizing radiation levels at the surface of Mars could reduce plant productivity (but not germination), although technical difficulties made conclusions hard to draw. Schuerger argues that pests and phytopathogens, common in terrestrial agriculture, will be a concern in plant-supported missions to the Moon and Mars he therefore outlines a first-order integrated pest management program. give an overview of the available knowledge, and its gaps, on the influence of gravity levels below 1 g on the early development of plants. and Schuerger each focus on one of these challenges. describe major challenges for space crop production, as identified by the Kennedy Space Center, as well as NASA’s efforts to overcome them. (with a higher focus on its atmosphere control system): the Plant Characterization Unit, an environmentally-controlled chamber for investigations on BLSS higher plant compartments. Another facility, this one at the University of Naples, is described by Pannico et al. ![]() Such chambers could be used in early missions, before on-site production covers the crewmembers’ entire nutritional needs. review NASA’s work toward the development of plant chambers for supplemental, fresh food production in space. Accordingly, nine contributions to this Research Topic focus on plant cultivation. In addition, they provide air revitalization and water purification capabilities (e.g., Wheeler, 2010), and could be used for other functions including, for instance, pharmaceutical production ( McNulty et al., 2021). Lunar and Martian BLSS will most likely include plants, which are necessary for food production. This Research Topic aimed at stimulating such efforts. Pragmatic efforts are thus needed presently for BLSS to be ready when Moon and Mars missions would benefit from them. Experience gained from long-running BLSS projects (e.g., ESA’s MELiSSA project Lasseur et al., 2010 Walker and Granjou, 2017) shows that their development is a long-term process. They also present associated challenges, goals, and example systems.ĭespite extensive research performed over the last few decades, no BLSS project has reached enough maturity to significantly increase the autonomy of even a small-sized base on the Moon or Mars. In the present Research Topic, this is illustrated by Berliner et al., who argue for an integrated biomanufacturing plant for resource production and recycling on Mars. Bioregenerative life-support systems (BLSS) are a highly promising way of addressing this limitation, even more so if they can be combined with in situ resource utilization (ISRU). As missions get longer and more remote, providing all these consumables from Earth becomes unrealistic: launch costs, travel times, and risks of failure are critical obstacles. Humans, of course, need a habitable environment and a wealth of consumables to survive: food, water, oxygen and possibly medication, to name a few. Such at least is the goal of the leading space agencies ( ISECG, 2018), and private companies-most publicized, SpaceX-have stated related objectives ( Musk, 2017). The present decade may see the beginning of a sustainable human presence on the Moon the next may be that of humankind’s first steps on Mars.
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