A conceptual configuration of the lunar base bioregenerative life support system including soil-like substrate for growing plants

Solutes determine the temperature windows for microbial survival and growth

“…The findings of our study have implications for the feasibility of cellular function in such environments (13,38,39). For instance, chaotropic ions in the Mars regolith might favor the growth of putative early microbial life on Mars at low temperature; it is intriguing to ask what conditions microbial saprotrophs would require to create an agriculturally productive, self-sustaining human base on the moon (40). Knowledge-based approaches to facilitating the activity of saprotrophic microbes that are known to fail in cold-limited ecosystems (41)(42)(43) could lead to the use of environments that have hitherto remained hostile to life (44).…”

Photosynthetic characteristics, antioxidant capacity and biomass yield of wheat exposed to intermittent light irradiation with millisecond-scale periods

“…Sustained human presence in space requires the development of new technologies to maintain environment control, to provide water, oxygen, food and to keep the astronauts healthy and psychologically fit (Liu et al, 2008;Nelson et al, 2005). Bioregenerative Life Support Systems (BLSS) in conjunction with in-situ resource utilization will initially reduce and ultimately eliminate consumables from the logistics chain (Hu et al, 2012;Tikhomirov et al, 2003).…”

Effects of aqueous extract of soil-like substrate made from three different materials on seed germination and seedling growth of rice

“…The results showed that their yields when growing on a mature SLS are comparable to the yields when growing on a neutral substrate (expanded clay aggregate) under hydroponics [9,11]. It has been proved that SLS plays a critical role by serving as substrate in the life support system for sustainable utilization of the inedible parts of plants and then, improved the system's air tightness [12,13]. In previous studies, researchers in the laboratory have successfully produced SLS by the straw of rice and wheat, and optimized the SLS production technological process.…”