Volume 8, Number 6     November/December 2000

Small Business/SBIR

Plant Growth System Ready for Space

Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC) of Madison, Wisconsin, has developed the Biomass Production System (BPS) under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract with NASA Kennedy Space Center. The BPS is an innovative plant growth chamber that provides the precise environmental control required to perform meaningful plant research in microgravity.

The Biomass Production System is designed and manifested to fly on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) to support scientific and commercial plant growth and biotechnology investigations in space. Photo provided by NASA Kennedy Space Center.

The BPS is designed and manifested to fly on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) to support scientific and commercial plant growth and biotechnology investigations in space. Projected research areas include reproduction and development biology, gravitational biology, environmental biology, radiobiology, bioregenerative life support and technology validation.

The BPS has been developed to closely meet or exceed science requirements for plant growth in the Space Station era as a precursor to the Plant Research Unit within the Space Station Biological Research Program. Important features of the BPS include independent control of temperature, humidity, lighting, carbon dioxide levels and nutrient delivery for up to four different chambers; easy access to plant biomass through all phases of ground and orbital operations; enhanced data and video acquisition; sealed chambers for gas and water vapor exchange measurements; modular design of all subsystems; and an advanced control system integrating automated diagnostics.

Both space and terrestrial applications exist for the Biomass Production System, explained Thomas Crabb, ORBITEC's vice president. The environmental control technologies can apply to the Space Shuttle, ISS, Spacehab, plant and animal habitats and other centrifuge facilities. Ground-based applications can extend into growth chambers; greenhouses; controlled environment agricultural systems; humidity control in homes, offices and other facilities; automated maintenance for large and small plantscapes; and specialized potting and planting systems for homes, offices, hotels and public buildings.

Significant commercial markets also exist for BPS technologies. Subsystem components and spinoffs will be commercialized for terrestrial markets. PLANET Products Corp., a sister company of ORBITEC, transitions valuable technologies from initial development stages into viable commercial markets via production and sales, equity or market partnerships, and technology or product licenses. The company has been formed to work in a strategic alliance with ORBITEC, with ORBITEC maintaining a research and development focus and PLANET leading the commercialization and market implementation.

The Photosynthesis and Assimilation System Testing and Analysis (PASTA) experiment was funded for development by NASA's Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications, Life Sciences Division, as the science payload during technology verification testing of the Biomass Production System (BPS). The objective of the PASTA experiment is to determine the effect of the space environment, specifically microgravity (µG), on photosynthesis and metabolism of wheat. The PASTA experiment will be integrated into the hardware verification flight of the BPS.

For more information, contact Thomas Gould at NASA Kennedy Space Center. Call: 321/867-6238, E-mail: Thomas.Gould-1@ksc.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

ALTERNATIVE ACCESS SOUGHT FOR SPACE STATION

NASA has awarded four small businesses contracts to develop concepts and requirements to provide access to the International Space Station on emerging launch systems.

These studies could uncover a potential backup capability, augmenting the Space Station's primary resupply vehicles: the U.S. Space Shuttle, Russian Progress, European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle and the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicles.

"Alternate access to the Space Station is a potential market opportunity for emerging or established U.S. launch companies," said Dan Dumbacher, manager of the Second Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program Office at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama. "These companies will develop concepts for alternate access to the Space Station, determine what a launch service needs to do to meet the requirements and offer suggestions on specific development risk-reduction activities, such as technology development or business planning, that we need to perform."

Companies selected were:

  • Andrews Space and Technology of El Segundo, California
  • Microcosm, Inc., of El Segundo, California
  • HMX Ltd. of Reno, Nevada
  • Kistler Aerospace Corporation of Kirkland, Washington

The contingency resupply service understudy would seek to be capable of launching within a week if necessary and could enhance the Space Station's operational flexibility if primary delivery methods were unavailable. Established launch services companies are studying the same idea under existing contracts managed by NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

"This potential alternate means of transportation could help us meet our commitments to the Station," Dumbacher said.

The study contracts, set aside for small business, are managed by Marshall under the Alternate Access Project of the Space Launch Initiative. Marshall is NASA's lead center for space transportation systems development.

For more information, contact Rosalie Allen, manager of Program and Business Development for Space Transportation at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. Call: 256/544-0117, E-mail: Rosalie.W.Allen@msfc.nasa.gov Please mention you read about it in Innovation.

NASA Official: Jonathan Root

Web Designer: Joel Vendette

Credits