1990 Volume 2 Issue 1 Pages 38-44
Human beings will start permanent scientific and technological endeavours in the moon in the first decade of te next century.
This paper reports the results of the study for developing the design method of plant culturing systems of the closed ecological life support system, or CELSS, in lunar base.
From among conceivable plants, wheat, rice, potato, soy bean, butter head lettuce and spinach have been selected as plants to be cultivated.
A cylindrical configuration of the culturing module, which is 4 m in diameter and 14.5 m long, has been selected.
Conveniences to transportation in space and to installation in lunar base, and superior pressure proofness and air tightness are major advantages of the configuration.
The hydroponical culturing system is provided with multistack culturing segments each of which has sand beds, artificial lightings, and irrigation lines. Double deckers are for cereal culturing and three deckers for the other crops. An overhead travelling robot serves to all the culturing segments for necessary culturing operations.
Auxilliary equipments are located in the spaces at above and below the segments. A computerized processing system facilitates the realization of suitable ambients.
The shape and the arrangements thus described with the total culturing area of 65.3 af per module should grow sufficient amounts of crops to sustain 1.63 inhabitants in lunar base.
