MELIiSSA loop
The European Space Agency’s MELIiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative) research program “aims to develop the technology required for a future biological life support system for long term manned space missions.” In fact, MELISSA claims to go “further than other recycling systems used on Mir or the International Space Station which purify water and recycle exhaled carbon dioxide”, by attempting to “recycle organic waste for food production.”
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Flywheel2
A little known fact is that NASA has a flywheel program. The international Space Station (ISS) is periodically in the Earth’s shadow, so that its solar arrays do not work all of the time. A form of energy storage is required in order to operate the ISS while eclipsed and during peak loads. At one time, NASA had considered using flywheels to store electrical energy on the space station. Like many other NASA programs, the flywheel program has seen better days, but the technology still exists. Much of the research had centered around Glenn Research Center.
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The Advanced AstrocultureTM (ADVASC) plant growth chamber is now “harvested” its second generation of soybeans. This is the first time that soybeans have been grown from seed to seed in space, and it is an important proof-of-concept advance for astroculture. See full article.
NASA has been working on various aspects of Contained Environment Life Support Systems (CELSS). Much of this work could be applicable to solving the sustainability challenges faced by the human race. See full article.
SustainSpace encourages the reuse of technologies developed for space to benefit sustainability endeavors on Earth by blogging about those developed by others and developing new ones.