ERASMUS: Food Contact Safe Plastics Recycler and 3D Printer System

One of the goals of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) from 2012 is to ?utilize the ISS for developing the systems and protocols necessary to humans to venture beyond low Earth orbit for extended durations?, and with the push from Congress in 2015 to build a deep space habitat for a Mars mission by 2018, the goals of HEOMD are increasingly important to meet. ERASMUS will enable these goals by providing a technology suite which is both a trash recycling unit and a microbial sterilizer. The ERASMUS technology suite contains a plastics recycler, dry heat sterilizer, and 3D printer that accepts previously used utensils, trays, and food storage containers, sterilizes these pre-used materials, recycles them into food grade 3D printer filament, and fabricates food contact safe 3D printed parts. This effort intends to minimize the requirements for resupplying and/or storing excess wet wipes, utensils, food containers, and waste. It also intends to improve astronaut health and safety by providing utensils which are truly sterile and free of harmful contaminants for long duration missions. In the phase II effort, we will further enable the goals of HEOMD by expanding ERASMUS to provide a medical grade 3D printer.