Failure modes, causes, and effects of algal photobioreactors used to control a spacecraft environment

Matula, Emily E.; Nabity, James

doi:10.1016/j.lssr.2018.12.001

Cited by 15 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Algae products may have the potential to be a critical tool in maintaining long-term manned spaceflight. Algae products simply need water, heat, sunlight, and a simple carbon source (Matula and Nabity, 2019). In return, algae can provide biologicals and nutritional supplements, as well as fuel-all of which are critical spaceflight provisions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moonshot: Affordable, Simple, Flight Hardware for the Artemis-1 Mission and Beyond

Hammond

Allen

Wells

et al. 2020

Front. Space Technol.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moonshot: Affordable, Simple, Flight Hardware for the Artemis-1 Mission and Beyond

Hammond

Allen

Wells

et al. 2020

Front. Space Technol.

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“…Exceptional to the typical culture-based system vulnerabilities, microbial, oxygenic photoautotrophic cultures (i.e. microalgae 76,77 and cyanobacteria 78,79 ) represent a promising subset of culture-based systems that may be better equipped for supporting human life in space. They share many of the same benefits of molecular pharming; these organisms are able to use available in situ resources (i.e.…”

Section: Comparing Molecular Medical Foundries For Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular Pharming to Support Human Life on the Moon, Mars, and Beyond

McNulty¹,

Xiong

Yates

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Space missions have always assumed that the risk of spacecraft malfunction far outweighs the risk of human system failure. This assumption breaks down for longer duration exploration missions and exposes vulnerabilities in space medical system. Space agencies can no longer buy down the majority of human system risk through the crew member selection process and emergency re-supply or evacuation. No mature medical solutions exist to close the risk gap. With recent advances in biotechnology, there is promise in augmenting a space pharmacy with a biologically-based space foundry for on-demand manufacturing of high-value medical products. Here we review the challenges and opportunities of molecular pharming, the production of pharmaceuticals in plants, as the basis of a space medical foundry to close the risk gap in current space medical systems. Plants have long been considered an important life support object in space and can now also be viewed as programmable factories in space. Advances in molecular pharming-based space foundries will have widespread application in promoting simple and accessible pharmaceutical manufacturing on Earth.

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“…Viral persistence in and response to extreme conditions also has important implications for humans voyaging into space, as recently reviewed by Pavletić et al (2022) . However, in addition to viral impacts on human physiology via direct infection and impacts on the microbiome, viral infection of plants or microbes could impact critical life support systems on deep space missions, including algal bioreactors ( Matula and Nabity, 2019 ). Conditions such as microgravity affect fluid dynamics with implications for bacterial biology (as reviewed in Diaz et al, 2019 ; Acres et al, 2021 ; Sharma and Curtis, 2022 ), and presumably also virus–host interactions, but this is still an underdeveloped field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Closing the carbon loop through bioregenerative technologies is one approach for providing ECLSS. Algal photobioreactors can remove carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), liberate O 2 , remove or alter waste and produce edible biomass ( Matula and Nabity, 2019 ; Fahrion et al, 2021 ). These photobioreactors can withstand the dynamic temperature environment experienced within the ISS thermal control loops ( Matula and Nabity, 2021 ; Matula et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Astrovirology: how viruses enhance our understanding of life in the Universe

Trubl

Stedman

Bywaters

et al. 2023

International Journal of Astrobiology

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Viruses are the most numerically abundant biological entities on Earth. As ubiquitous replicators of molecular information and agents of community change, viruses have potent effects on the life on Earth, and may play a critical role in human spaceflight, for life-detection missions to other planetary bodies and planetary protection. However, major knowledge gaps constrain our understanding of the Earth's virosphere: (1) the role viruses play in biogeochemical cycles, (2) the origin(s) of viruses and (3) the involvement of viruses in the evolution, distribution and persistence of life. As viruses are the only replicators that span all known types of nucleic acids, an expanded experimental and theoretical toolbox built for Earth's viruses will be pivotal for detecting and understanding life on Earth and beyond. Only by filling in these knowledge and technical gaps we will obtain an inclusive assessment of how to distinguish and detect life on other planetary surfaces. Meanwhile, space exploration requires life-support systems for the needs of humans, plants and their microbial inhabitants. Viral effects on microbes and plants are essential for Earth's biosphere and human health, but virus–host interactions in spaceflight are poorly understood. Viral relationships with their hosts respond to environmental changes in complex ways which are difficult to predict by extrapolating from Earth-based proxies. These relationships should be studied in space to fully understand how spaceflight will modulate viral impacts on human health and life-support systems, including microbiomes. In this review, we address key questions that must be examined to incorporate viruses into Earth system models, life-support systems and life detection. Tackling these questions will benefit our efforts to develop planetary protection protocols and further our understanding of viruses in astrobiology.

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Failure modes, causes, and effects of algal photobioreactors used to control a spacecraft environment

Cited by 15 publications

References 58 publications

Moonshot: Affordable, Simple, Flight Hardware for the Artemis-1 Mission and Beyond

Moonshot: Affordable, Simple, Flight Hardware for the Artemis-1 Mission and Beyond

Molecular Pharming to Support Human Life on the Moon, Mars, and Beyond

Astrovirology: how viruses enhance our understanding of life in the Universe

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