IGF::OT::IGF THE PLANT WATER MANAGEMENT (PWM) EFFORT IS THE FIRST EXPERIMENT OF A PLANNED FOLLOW-ON PROGRAM…

Public award description

IGF::OT::IGF THE PLANT WATER MANAGEMENT (PWM) EFFORT IS THE FIRST EXPERIMENT OF A PLANNED FOLLOW-ON PROGRAM TO INVESTIGATE TWO PHASE FLUID FLOWS TO SUPPORT PLANT LIFE IN SPACE. THE PWM SCOPE FOR THIS DELIVERY ORDER IS INTENDED TO DESIGN AND FABRICATE A SINGLE-PLANT ARRAY WATER DELIVERY METHOD EXPERIMENT FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION (ISS) MAINTENANCE WORK AREA (MWA). THE PWM EXPERIMENT INTENDS TO DELIVER A RAPID-MANUFACTURED PAYLOAD CONTAINING MULTIPLE FLUID DELIVERY METHOD TECHNIQUES. THE TECHNIQUES ARE INTENDED TO PROVIDE MICROGRAVITY FLUIDS DATA TO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF LONG-TERM PLANT HABITATS IN SPACE. THE COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT FLUID DELIVERY AND RECOVERY METHODS IS A COMPONENT OF AN INTEGRATED LIFE-SCIENCES/PHYSICAL SCIENCES RESEARCH EFFORT INTO FARMING IN SPACE ENVIRONMENTS. THIS PARTICULAR EXPERIMENT IS PLANNED TO HELP ANSWER THE QUESTION 'HOW CAN THE DELIVERY OF NUTRIENT RICH WATER AND OXYGEN TO THE ROOT ZONES OF PLANTS BE CONTROLLED IN MICROGRAVITY?' FROM PROJECT SPECIFIC DOCUMENTATION #4. SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PWM EXPERIMENT IS EXPECTED TO LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LONG-TERM EFFORT TO ENABLE PLANT GROWTH IN MULTIPLE GRAVITY ENVIRONMENTS. THIS IS IN SUPPORT OF LONG TERM SPACE HABITATS AS DETAILED IN NASA'S TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP AND THE MOST RECENT SCIENCE DECADAL SURVEY.