The system uses microbes in "biofilms" to treat the air and
so-called "gray water," or water that has been soiled from
bathing, washing dishes and similar uses.
"If you walk across a stream and you slip on a slimy rock, you
just stepped on a biofilm," Banks says. "A biofilm is a gelatinous
matrix, where the microbes actually grow."
Her research team will grow specialized biofilms on plastic devices
through which air and water pass. "The microbes will eat, actually
degrade, the organic contaminants in the water and the air," Banks
says.
Researchers are studying about 15 crops for possible use in the advanced
life support system, including herbs for seasoning, potatoes and salad
crops, such as tomatoes and lettuce. The work will address a range of
issues, such as food spoilage in space, hydroponically produced plants,
and plant growth in a reduced gravity environment.
"We will investigate energy-saving ways to light food crops in
space using vertical strips of colored, light-emitting diodes,"
Mitchell says. "Light strips will hang right in the crop stand
with plants growing all around them. These lights are cool enough that
plants can even touch them. The colors will match the absorbance of
the photosynthetic pigments in the plants. This is a modification of
the commercial 'pathlights' you see in movie theaters and in airline
exit rows."
Contact Mitchell at cary.a.mitchell.1@purdue.edu
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