Browsing by Author "Poulet, Lucie"
Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Design of a Containerized Greenhouse Module for Deployment to the Neumayer III Antarctic Station(44th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2014-07-13) Bamsey, Matthew T.; Zabel, Paul; Zeidler, Conrad; Poulet, Lucie; Schubert, Daniel; Kohlberg, Eberhard; Graham, ThomasDesigns for an Antarctic plant production system to be deployed at Germany’s Neumayer Station III are presented. Characterization and testing of several key controlled environment agriculture technologies are ongoing at the German Aerospace Center’s Institute of Space Systems. Subsystems under development at the Evolution and Design of Environmentally-Closed Nutrition-Sources (EDEN) laboratory include, tuned LED lighting, aeroponic nutrient delivery, ion-selective sensors and modular growth pallets. The Antarctic greenhouse module baseline form factor is a standard sea shipping container, which allows for use of nominal Antarctic logistics networks. The facility will be fixed onto a specially constructed platform and co-located near the Alfred Wegner Institute’s Neumayer Station III. The plant production facility will be operated year-round with maximum production per unit volume achieved through the deployment of modular grow units in a stackable rack architecture. In such a configuration the greenhouse module system can provide several kilograms of fresh edible biomass per day. Forty foot and 20 ft container configurations are described as well as the general design requirements, including specifics relevant to operations at Neumayer III. Successful deployment of such a facility will further the technology readiness and operational experience of space-based bioregenerative life support systems. Finally, the general design is presented in the context of an historical review of past Antarctic plant production facilities. This first known inventory of documented Antarctic plant production facilities, organizes the facilities with respect to Antarctic station, dates of operation, internal/external configuration and estimated production area.Item Development of a photosynthesis measurement chamber under different airspeeds for applications in future space crop-production facilities(2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2020-07-31) Poulet, Lucie; Gildersleeve, Michael; Koss, Lawrence; Massa, Gioia D.; Wheeler, Raymond M.Space crop production systems are being developed to grow fresh produce in-situ to supplement the astronauts’ diet, but the required ventilation rates for crops in different gravity environments remains poorly understood. The reduction or lack of buoyancy-driven convection in reduced gravity environments leads to impaired gas exchange (CO2 absorption, water transpiration and O2 release) at the leaf surface if no extra ventilation is provided, and this could lead to a reduction in biomass production in the long run. To better characterize the influence of different airspeeds on photosynthesis and be able to model this in low gravity, a chamber was designed to interface with a LI-6800 portable photosynthesis system. This paper details the design of this chamber, specifically made to measure whole-plant and small canopy gas exchange at different airspeeds. The fans provide turbulent mixing in the chamber to ensure that it behaves like a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and that the residence time distribution (RTD) is the same for any fan speed; the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) model of the gas domain (the air in the chamber) hence uses a k-omega turbulence model. An airflow map of the chamber was created using anemometer measurements for the different airspeeds tested, and this was used together with the CFD simulation results to relate the experimentally measured fan outputs to actual airspeeds on top of an artificial plant. The chamber is equipped with thermocouples that track leaf surface temperature, which relate to the LI-6800 gas exchange measurements via a plant energy balance. Environmental parameters (air temperature, relative humidity, CO2 level) are controlled by the LI-6800. This work was funded by NASA Space Biology through the NASA postdoctoral program / USRA.Item Main focusses on the use of higher plant growth models for life support systems(51st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 7/10/2022) Ku?ma, Joanna; Fontaine, Jean-Pierre; Poulet, Lucie; Dussap, Claude-GillesIn long-term plans for space exploration investigated by major space agencies, the exploration of the Moon or Mars involves solving many technological problems. One of them is the development of an efficient and robust life-support system. One-way trip to Mars will take between 6 to 8 months with current technology. According to NASA�s economic calculations, for each trip over 10 months, at least 15% of the food for astronauts should be produced onboard. To make this possible it is necessary to switch from physicochemical (PC) systems in charge of recycling water and oxygen and stabilization of waste - like the one on the International Space Station - to hybrid ones where part of the system can be based on PC technology and part of it on biological processes in order to produce edible biomass, e.g. to grow plants. As the growth and development of higher plants are strongly influenced by the environmental conditions, bio-regenerative life-support systems require a high level of control and management. In systems that include plants, it is possible to use transpiring water as a source of potable water, which in turn can reduce the need for physical purification systems. For this to be possible, it is necessary to understand in-depth how the various parameters affect the plant growth and transpiration process - especially in closed systems. Most of the existing plant growth models do not consider gravity, radiation, or CO2 concentration as variable parameters. However, over the years, new models are being developed in controlled environments. This article presents an overview of the existing models with a focus on the ones that can be used to simulate systems in space. The article also highlights the work that still needs to be done to understand the impact of certain parameters on plant growth for a closed-systems application.Item Modelling Higher Plants Gas Exchange in Reduced Gravity Environment(47th International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2017-07-16) Poulet, Lucie; Dussap, Claude-Gilles; Fontaine, Jean-PierreLong-duration human space missions and the establishment of permanent off-Earth bases (e.g. on the Moon or Mars) is one of the main focuses of today’s space exploration. This poses many severe challenges at the life-support level, which needs to recycle atmosphere, water and waste for crew survival. The European Space Agency (ESA) project Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (MELiSSA) can ensure these functions. It is a closed-loop bio-regenerative life-support system functioning with microorganisms and higher plants and providing a circular cycling of mass, including O2 production, CO2 capture, water recycling and food production. The growth and development of higher plants are strongly influenced by environmental conditions (e.g. gravity, pressure, temperature, relative humidity, partial pressure of O2 or CO2) so bio-regenerative life support systems require a high level of control and management. The goal is to develop a mechanistic physical model of plant growth to predict the effects of microgravity or of a reduced gravity environment (like on Mars or on the Moon) on plant growth at its morphological, physicochemical and biochemical levels. Current existing plant growth models are developed for agronomy and are therefore not adapted for modeling plant growth for applications in life-support systems, which require being able to extrapolate plants behavior for a wide range of environmental conditions. The first mechanistic plant growth model developed in the framework of the MELiSSA project has attempted to address these limitations. Based on this work, a preliminary structure of the model was defined. In this presentation, the addition of gravity as a parameter is addressed, taking into account the altered gas exchanges due to the low or lack of free convection in reduced gravity environments. The influences of forced and free convection are studied according to the levels of gravity and the interdependence of low gravity and ventilation are addressed.Item A Multidisciplinary Scientific Outreach Journal Designed for and Made by Middle and High School Students to Bring Research Closer to the Classroom(2020 International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2020-07-31) Poulet, Lucie; Vernay, Antoine; Goncalves, Barbara; Dalmas, Banjamin; Vernay, MathildeOne mission of a researcher is to share their work and results with the general public but there is a real challenge in accurately and effectively sharing scientific results with a broad audience. Indeed, they are published in scientific journals that are mostly available at high costs; the vocabulary used makes it hard for people outside of the field to understand the concepts; and sometimes there is a language barrier for non-English speakers. However, to make informed decisions on a variety of scientific and societal topics, citizens need to have access to and keep up with these research results. To build critical thinking, this good practice should be developed from an early age. This paper describes the journal DECODER (French for “to decode”, journal-decoder.fr), which enables a researcher and a class to work together on their own shortened research article. The middle and high school students can have the role of active reviewers on the researcher’s shortened article or they can write an outreach article on a given topic in which the researcher is a specialist. Articles are then published under a creative commons license and are freely available on the journal website to benefit a majority. Our partner researchers work in space agencies, in academia, or in industry, in a variety of disciplines. The emphasis is set on multidisciplinarity to raise students’ awareness about research wideness and show them that research is not limited to STEM fields but also exists in economics and humanities. This points out the significance and ubiquity of transdisciplinarity in solving real world’s problems, especially for space exploration. In its first year and a half, the journal has already involved more than ten classes in five different schools and 18 articles have been submitted by ten researchers.