Advanced nutrient root-feeding system for conveyor-type cylindrical plant growth facilities for microgravity.

A compact and reliable automatic method for plant nutrition supply is needed to monitor and control space-based plant production systems. The authors of this study have designed a nutrient root-feeding system that minimizes and regulates nutrient and water supply without loss of crop yields in a space greenhouse. The system involves an ion-exchange fibrous artificial soil (AS) BIONA-V3(TM) as the root-inhabited medium; a pack with slow-release fertilizer as the main source of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium; and a cartridge with granular mineral-rich ionite (GMRI) as a source of calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and iron.

[Promising technique of mineral supply organization for plants in the condition of microgravity].

The proposed system of automated nutrient solution preparation for plant cultivation in microgravity consists of an ion-exchange fabric artificial soil (AS) as a root-inhabited medium, a pack with slow release fertilizer as the main source of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and a cartridge with a granular mineral-rich ionite as a source of calcium, magnesium, sulphur and iron. Experiments proved that fabric AS BIONA-V3 is capable to stabilize pH of the substrate solution within the range of 6.0 to 6.

[Development of a minerals supply system for plants in a conveyor-type space greenhouse].

The paper presents ideas of optimizing the mineral nutrition system for salad crops in a space greenhouse. Experiments showed that to use mineral-saturated fiber ionite BIONA-V3 as an artificial soil will require to upmass a lot of expandable materials because of low specific content of nutrients. An additionally mineralized fiber soil makes possible to reduce mass of ionite in 5.

[Results of salad machine experiment within the MARS-500 project].

The salad machine experiment was aimed to fulfill performance testing of a prototype of space conveyor-type cylindrical greenhouse PHYTOCYCLE-SL, to study growth and development of plants, and to evaluate microbial contamination of equipment in the closed manned environment. Crops of leaf cabbage Brassica chinensis L., cultivar Vesnianka were raised in the time interval between MARS-500 days 417 and 515.

[Prototype of space vitamin greenhouse "Phytoconveyor"].

Installation of a greens production system on the International space station will mean a leap toward biological regeneration of food in long-duration space mission. Today, priority is given to green cultures as supplements of space rations and a psychological support to crews in exploration missions to Mars, and also as least resource-intensive. Cylindrical salad greenhouse "Phytoconveyor" designed at the Institute for Biomedical Problems is highly productive, energy-efficient, and requires minimum of crew time for.