Astro Garden® “Salad Diet" Scale Ground Prototype Assembly and Plant Growth Testing

Date

7/10/2022

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

51st International Conference on Environmental Systems

Abstract

The Astro Garden aeroponic plant-growth system ground prototype was developed as a spacecraft analog to produce sufficient planting capability in support of the requirements for a "salad diet" as outlined by the Baseline Values and Assumptions Document (BVAD). The Astro Garden prototype was designed to operate with mostly gravity-independent systems, and an overall planting volume sufficient to meet the salad-diet production requirements. Astro Garden provides unique plant-growth capabilities in comparison to current spaceflight systems. Through aeroponic nutrient delivery, Astro Garden is capable of producing: potatoes, carrots, radishes, and other root vegetables. Initial testing in Astro Garden was performed with heritage spaceflight plants to provide a basis for the system performance in comparison to systems like Veggie. This paper documents the initial Astro Garden system build and a sample of plant-growth test results.

Description

Samuel Moffatt, Sierra Nevada Corporation, US
Robert Morrow, Sierra Nevada Corporation, US
John Wetzel, Sierra Nevada Corporation, US
Joseph Klopotic, Sierra Nevada Corporation, US
ICES204: Bioregenerative Life Support
The 51st International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, US, on 10 July 2022 through 14 July 2022.

Keywords

aeroponic, hydroponic, plant growth, bioregenerative, salad-diet, astro garden, xroots, eclss

Citation