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Assessment of Programs in Space Biology and Medicine--1991 (1991) / Chapter Skim
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7. CLOSED ECOLOGICAL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS
Pages 51-57

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From page 51...
... of suitable crop species and varieties. The food processing system must be designed to derive maximum edible content from all plant parts, while the waste management system must recycle the solid, liquid, and gaseous components necessary to support life.
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From page 52...
... Without extensive experience with such systems, it is difficult to anticipate problems that may arise from the accumulation of trace gases, for example, or from the presence of plant pathogens or viruses affecting microbial species associated with the plant growth or waste management systems. The closed ecological life support system is much more than a "greenhouse in space." It is a multispecific ecosystem operating in a small closed environment.
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From page 53...
... The closed ecological life support system, like other biological research programs, will benefit from advances in genetic engineering technology. Potential applications of this technology to CELSS range from the use of molecular markers to accelerated plant breeding programs to techniques for the directed transfer of isolated single genes.
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From page 54...
... Some effort has been devoted to assessing intra-specific variability in performance under controlled environments, mainly involving growth chamber tests on a large number of varieties of wheat. The results have been instructive, since there is a high degree of genetic variation and only a few of the many lines studied approach optimum performance levels under the test conditions used.
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From page 55...
... In addition, although it has been shown that wheat varieties differ dramatically in their responses under conditions currently deemed appropriate for a CELSS, no systematic plant breeding efforts appear to have been attempted.
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From page 56...
... Both basic and applied plant research programs in microgravity will be most effective if varying levels of artificial gravity are provided in a space-based centrifuge. Extensive use of a properly designed centrifuge facility will help investigators separate the effects of gravitational and other environmental factors and achieve a greater mechanistic understanding of plant responses.
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From page 57...
... 1Fruitis a botanical term including food items commonly referred to as seeds, such as grains and legumes.
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Key Terms

  • reduced gravity
  • food processing
  • ecological life
  • closed ecological
  • life support

  • plant breeding
  • gravity environments
  • waste management
  • waste processing
  • plant species

  • space environment
  • space center
  • kennedy space
  • celss program
  • mechanistic understanding

  • breeding programs
  • scientific goal
  • breeding efforts
  • fundamental questions
  • genetic variation

  • trace gases
  • controlled experiments
  • growth chamber
  • controlled environments
  • systematic plant

  • food sources
  • plant performance
  • ecological buffering
  • potential food
  • plant pathogens


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