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MicroTerra:
Introduction to MicroTerra
What MicroTerra Aims to Solve
What MicroTerra Aims to Solve
The current food supply to astronauts in space is limited to specific types of packaged food. Currently, there is an automated delivery ship that sends water, food, and supplies to the space station, but it only delivers a shipment every two months. These foods will typically be either freeze-dried, heat treated, or preserved in some other manner to prevent bacteria growth. These foods are stored in a locker at ambient temperature and must last until the next shipment comes. They must be eaten in a specific order in accordance to how long they are presumed to last. This limits the amount of fresh vegetables, fruits, and leafy greens that can be sent to the International Space Station(ISS) due to a lack of dedicated refrigeration for the food and the short shelf life these foods have. If fresh foods are sent to the ISS, they need to be eaten within 2 to 3 days, otherwise, they will spoil and risk introducing bacteria growth on board. Due to the rare occasion that the crew members get to snack on fresh veggies and fruits, they are some of the most desired foods on the ship!
The ISS is fully dependent on packaged food from these automated deliveries from Earth for food and cannot consistently provide fresh foods for the astronauts. MicroTerra aims to solve this issue! The need to grow fresh produce is essential for astronaut health and to further the development of space exploration.
Team Motivation
Team Motivation
Our team is motivated to solve this issue by providing a way to grow a sustainable source of fresh foods onboard the ISS. The team's mission was to be able to design a contained system that is able to grow microgreens on the ship to supplement the astronauts' diets while reducing the need for human interaction. We have integrated all necessary sensors to maintain an ideal growing space for the microgreens. Crews currently spend time with installations, adding water, and providing maintenance to the systems presently in place on the ISS such as the Veggie and the Advanced Plant Habitat. Our goal was to provide fresh produce with significantly reduced crew time, while only requiring intervention in the event of an error and for harvest collection. By doing this, MicroTerra allows astronauts to give full attention to their research and enjoy fresh produce, regularly, without the hassle.
Our team values the importance and the need for space exploration and research, so we are all very excited to help provide a solution for the NASA Kennedy Space Center's Indoor farming prose. Our project can help advance technologies in space for growing plants by presenting new ideas and adding a new level of automation that has not been attempted before. We hope that one day our ideas from our project can be utilized aboard the ISS to provide nutritious sustenance to astronauts orbiting the Earth!
Project Objectives
Image retrieved from "https://www.adv-bio.com/super-veggies/"
Image retrieved from "https://www.adv-bio.com/super-veggies/"
Provide Nutritious Fresh Produce to Astronauts
Provide Nutritious Fresh Produce to Astronauts
Image retrieved from ""https://www.ptc.com/en/blogs/iiot/factory-automation-benefits
Image retrieved from ""https://www.ptc.com/en/blogs/iiot/factory-automation-benefits
Minimize Human Involvement
Minimize Human Involvement
Image retrieved from "https://www.agritecture.com/blog/2019/10/21/indias-hydroponic-farmers-are-growing-fresh-pesticide-free-produce"
Image retrieved from "https://www.agritecture.com/blog/2019/10/21/indias-hydroponic-farmers-are-growing-fresh-pesticide-free-produce"
Provide a Sustainable Source of Food
Provide a Sustainable Source of Food
Provide Nutritious Fresh Produce to Astronauts:
The MicroTerra yields approximately 10 ounces of microgreens every 9 days per sheet. The system is able to carry a 3 month supply of seeded mats in its first compartment, which would be about 100 ounces of supplemental fresh greens before it is time to restock another supply of mats. The amount that would be produced by each sheet after the 9 days would be enough to be used with food and healthy snacking until the next sheet is ready to harvest.
Minimize Human Involvement:
The current farming systems implemented by NASA require crews to spend a significant amount of time tampering with them. This includes placing the root mat on the baseplate, carefully injecting water into the plant medium, maintaining the system, and harvesting the plants. This amounts to hours that astronauts have to spend tending to the growing plants. Our system will significantly reduce that time down to seconds, only to collect the harvested microgreens. The MicroTerra requires a refill of seeded mats and removal of dehydrated, used mats every 3 months. This intervention by the crew will only take a few minutes and be of simple instruction. The MicroTerra uses quality materials and components to minimize the need for emergency maintenance and intervention, but in the event that this type of maintenance is required, it is still a fraction of the time overall spent working on the system.
Provide a Sustainable Source of Food:
The MicroTerra incorporates sensors that provide information to allow the system to maintain an optimal environment and includes durable materials such as Aluminum Alloy, Polycarbonate sheets and Stainless Steel to ensure that the system is resistant to the conditions and can provide several astronaut crews fresh, supplemental greens for time to come.
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