2005 年 60 巻 5 号 p. 385-390
Human space exploration missions require life support systems to sustain the crew. Plants help regulate the earth’s atmospheric and terrestrial environment; similarly, plants could be used in a closed system in space: cleaning carbon dioxide from the air, breaking down liquid and solid wastes, and producing fresh food. Advanced Life Support systems would use plants as part of a bioregenerative system. For space flight applications, the systems must be low in mass and energy consumption, and must be designed for reduced gravity operations. Four areas of research are reviewed in this article related to ALS system design, crop physiology and biology. The Water Offset Nutrient Delivery ExpeRiment (WONDER) will be conducted on the Space Shuttle to evaluate gravity-independent hydroponic systems and optimum water content targets for microgravity crop production. The Photosynthesis Experiment and System Testing and Operation (PESTO) project studied the photosynthesis rates and physiological responses of crops germinated and grown in microgravity. A project to study crop production systems in closed, controlled environments for multiple crops in the same root and aerial environment (International Space Station baseline conditions) is described. Finally, efficient light emitting diode (LED) lighting is being studied to determine plant photobiological responses to different light qualities.
