Crop Readiness Level (CRL): A Scale to Track Progression of Crop Testing for Space

dc.creatorRomeyn, Matthew
dc.creatorSpencer, Lashelle
dc.creatorMassa, Gioia
dc.creatorWheeler, Raymond
dc.date.accessioned2019-06-24T13:53:17Z
dc.date.available2019-06-24T13:53:17Z
dc.date.issued2019-07-07
dc.descriptionMatthew Romeyn, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA
dc.descriptionLashelle Spencer, AE COM Inc. Kennedy Space Center, USA
dc.descriptionGioia Massa, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA
dc.descriptionRaymond Wheeler, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), USA
dc.descriptionICES204: Bioregenerative Life Support
dc.descriptionThe 49th International Conference on Environmental Systems as held in Boston, Massachusetts, USA on 07 July 2019 through 11 July 2019.
dc.description.abstractThe development of engineering technologies and hardware for aerospace applications is often tracked on a 1-9 scale of readiness or TRL, with a “1” representing very basic or fundamental principles, and a “9” being flight tested, functional hardware. Preparing to grow crops for supplemental food and eventual life support contributions on space missions faces similar challenges. Nearly 20 years ago, the concept of a “crop readiness level” was suggested at a bioregenerative life support conference held at Kennedy Space Center, but there was little follow up to this. We propose to revive this concept to track the preparation and testing of different crop species for eventual use in the unique environment of space. For the sake of uniformity, we recommend a 1-9 scale, with a “1” being just the identification of a potential crop, followed by some basic horticultural testing, cultivars trials, then testing growth and yield under various controlled environments, progression to more space-like environments and hardware, understanding the nutritional, organoleptic, and food safety aspects of the crop, initial testing in space, and a final stage of growing the crop for food in space (“9”). We attempted to make the scaling logical and progressive, but our main goal is to initiate a dialogue in the space, plant research community to develop a scale for assessing crop readiness.
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.otherICES_2019_342
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/2346/84592
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher49th International Conference on Environmental Systems
dc.subjectTRL
dc.subjectTechnology Readiness Level
dc.subjectBioregenerative Life Support
dc.subjectFood Production
dc.titleCrop Readiness Level (CRL): A Scale to Track Progression of Crop Testing for Spaceen_US
dc.typePresentations

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