The MELiSSA GreenMOSS Preliminary Design Study: a Greenhouse Module on the Lunar Surface

• Main Authors: Boscheri, Giorgio, Lobascio, Cesare, Lamantea, Matteo Maria, Paille, Christel
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 46th International Conference on Environmental Systems 2016
• Subjects: MELiSSA; Lunar Greenhouse; Monocrop; Illumination; South Pole; South pole
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2346/67682

Italy Netherlands Thales Alenia Space Italia Thales Alenia Space - Italia European Space Agency 204 ICES204: Bioregenerative Life Support Vienna, Austria Giorgio Boscheri, Thales Alenia Space, Italy Matteo Lamantea, Thales Alenia Space, Italy Cesare. Lobascio, Thales Alenia Space, Italy Christel Paille, European Space Agency, ESTEC, Italy The 46th International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Vienna, Austria, USA on 10 July 2016 through 14 July 2016. Extended human presence on an extraterrestrial planetary surface will be made possible by the development of life support systems affordable in the long term. The key elements to support the goal will be the maximization of closure of air and water cycles, as well as the development of cost-effective and reliable hardware, including a careful strategic effort toward reduction of spare parts and consumables. Regenerative life support systems likely represent the final step toward long term sustainability of a space crew, allowing in situ food production and regeneration of organic waste. Referring to the MELiSSA loop, a key element for food production is the Higher Plant Compartment. The paper focuses on the preliminary design of a Greenhouse at the lunar South Pole, as performed within the “Greenhouse Module for Space System” (GreenMOSS) study, under a contract from the European Space Agency. The greenhouse is in support to a relatively small crew for provision of an energetic food complement. Resources necessary for the greenhouse such as water, carbon dioxide and nitrates are assumed available, as required. The relevant mass and energy balances for incoming resources should be part of future studies, harmonizing this element with the interfacing compartments of the MELiSSA loop. The work presents the results of the study, focusing on the two major trade-offs: artificial vs natural illumination and monocrop vs multicrop solutions. Comparisons among possible design solutions were driven by the ALiSSE metric as far as ...