Engineering stategies for advanced life support systems to be used on Lunar and Mars bases involve a wide spectrum of approaches. These range from purely physical-chemical life support strategies to purely biological approaches. Within the context of biological based systems, a bioengineered system can be devised that would utilize the metabolic mechanisms of plants to control the rates of CO2 uptake and O2 evolution (photosynthesis) and water production (transpiration). Such a mechanism of external engineering control has become known as throttling. Research conducted at the John F. Kennedy Space Center's Controlled Ecological Life Support System Breadboard Project has demonstrated the potential of throttling these fluxes by changing environmental parameters affecting the plant processes. Among the more effective environmental throttles are: light and CO2 concentration for controllingthe rate of photsynthesis and humidity and CO2 concentration for controlling transpiration. Such a bioengineered strategy implies control mechanisms that in the past have not been widely attributed to life support systems involving biological components and suggests a broad range of applications in advanced life support system design.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Engineering stategies and implications of using higher plants for throttling gas and water exchange in a controlled ecological life support system


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    SAE, International Conference on Environmental Systems ; 1993 ; Colorado Springs, CO, United States


    Publication date :

    1993-01-01



    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English