University of Guelph Launches Research To Sustain Life During Deep-Space Missions

TECH SPACE

After the habitats are joined, the six crew members have multiple pressurized volumes available for conducting greenhouse experiments, biological research, geochemical analysis of samples, and general crew accommodations. These images produced for NASA by John Frassanito and Associates. Technical concepts from NASA's Planetary Projects Office, Johnson Space Center (JSC). Note: NASA currently has no formal plans for a human expedition to Mars or the Moon. This image and others displayed may not reflect the hardware and overall concept of possible visits to either of those celestial bodies. However, the art work represented here serves as a comprehensive study of various concepts and ideas developed as possibilities over a period of years. The renderings were accomplished by NASA and/or NASA-commissioned artists.

Guelph - May 18, 2001
Life on Mars is one step closer to reality following the opening of a Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility at the University of Guelph that will seek to better understand how to sustainlife in deep space.

It is the most sophisticated and unique facility of its kind in the world in the field of advanced life support. The facility will have the highest level of Canadian technology in controlled environment systems research, eventually containing 14 of the plant science world's most sophisticated hypobaric (reduced pressure) chambers.

The chambers - the first of which was introduced today - will allow researchers to study the contributions of plants in supporting human life during long-term space missions such as that to Mars.

"Now that Canada's robotic arms are doing their jobs in orbit, advanced life support for long missions into deep space is the next phase," said project leader Mike Dixon, a plant agriculturist who has been studying how to sustain life in space for more than 15 years. "We're going to Mars in the next 20 years.

"This facility will allow the University to promote new and emerging technologies and participate in partnerships exploring space technology."

It is certain that future human exploration of space must be based on a biological life-support system, Dixon said. Currently, space-mission vehicles are able to carry just enough air, food and water to keep crews alive for short missions.

But during long space missions, the needs of the crew can be met only by developing renewable life-support systems based on plants and micro-organisms.

Plants are the most efficient means of sustaining life in space. They provide food and add oxygen to the atmosphere by removing carbon dioxide and helping eliminate polluting byproducts. They also help provide water and recycle waste.

"We believe that to choose our future, we must lead the way," said U of G president Mordechai Rozanski. "This unique facility definitely puts us at the forefront of the frontiers of science.

"It also allows us to foster collaborative interactions among European, American and Canadian specialists, helping us create and transfer new knowledge."

The new facility and hypobaric chambers will allow researchers to rigorously monitor the effect of growing plants at various pressures to sustain life in orbit.

It will also support research in indoor air quality, recycled water, waste remediation, selection and breeding of plants in controlled environments, and the development and testing of new sensor technologies.

The $7.9-million research facility was funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI); Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT); Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA); Centre for Research in Earth and Space Technology (CRESTech), an Ontario Centre of Excellence; as well as numerous industrial supporters.

"Investment in the facilities, equipment and technology - in short the tools for research - will help increase the capability of the University when it comes to research and innovation," said OIT chair Michael Gourley.

David Strangway, president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, added: "The launch of this new facility is a vibrant example of what the CFI was created to accomplish by strengthening our capacity to innovate. It will give a tremendous boost to the global leadership of the University of Guelph, of Ontario, and ultimately, of Canada."

While Ian Rowe, president and CEO of CRESTech, said "Dr. Dixon's work wonderfully illustrates the innovative technology being developed in Ontario universities. We're proud to have helped initiate the public-private partnerships that are creating this new niche for Canada's space program."

MARSDAILY

Staying Sane In Deep Space

Providence - Feb. 28, 2001
Brown University recently received a three-year, $638,000 grant to develop a system to monitor the cognitive abilities of astronauts during a proposed NASA manned mission to Mars in 2020. Prolonged exposure to cosmic rays may damage regions of the brain responsible for cognition, decision-making and language comprehension, a significant danger when the trip to Mars is expected to take six months, said Philip Lieberman, professor of cognitive and linguistic sciences and the study's lead researcher.

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