so much about the shuttle program is
spectacular launches two spacewalks that
it's easy to overlook the mundane though
they seem Herculeah nat times astronauts
in space are still bound by basic human
needs fresh air clean water and
nutritious fill my today bringing
necessary supplies from Earth hasn't
been a problem since the longest shuttle
flight was ten days but now NASA is
looking towards longer duration missions
including a permanent orbiting station
lunar base and trip to Mars where the
costs of hauling all life's essentials
would be prohibitive seeking
alternatives scientists at the Kennedy
Space Center are working to develop a
control deck illogical life-support
system ourselves where plants recycle
air water and waste to produce food
their effort is currently centered in an
old pressure vessel salvaged from the
mercury era
it's called the biomass production
chamber and in at KSC researchers are
producing their first pilgrims every
workers tend the small farm taking
measurements and ensuring that
everything is functioning properly the
wheat is grown in an enriched
water-based solution a process called
hydroponics which eliminates the need to
carry heavy potentially contaminating
soil hydroponics offers another
advantage as well according to the head
of the project build not it's very easy
to very quickly control exactly what the
roots are seen computers are used to
adjust the contents of the nutrient
solution as well as atmospheric
conditions in the chamber growing plants
is only the first step in creating a
complete life support system food
processing crew habitation and waste
management modules must all be developed
that is our big challenge to really put
it together and operate it as a system
so that we can ultimately influence what
happens in space in long period of time
at Disney's Epcot Center near Orlando
there's a pavilion called the land
showcasing future agricultural
technologies certainly growing plants in
space is futuristic which is why there's
a display featuring the research going
on at Kennedy but ANBU sugar epcot
senior plant pathologist is not just
part of the exhibit he's investigating
move diseases in hydroponic systems
keeping the plants healthy is a critical
concern and developing a life support
system for astronauts thousands of miles
for NASA Disney scientists also looking
into the possibility of growing plants
in lunar soil using earthly mineral
deposit similar to those found on the
moon they're trying to determine if
lunar farms might be another alternative
to resupply from Earth everything is
open everything is possible and I think
the more information we have on on
different types of systems in the way to
do things the better well we are and
more intelligently we can make decisions
to meet the specific mission
requirements as they evolve lunar farms
and control deck
gical life support systems work aimed at
providing the essentials for long
duration space missions
you