ASTRONAUTS IN SPACE LIVE IN AN ENCLOSED ECOLOGICAL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM WHERE THE NON-DIGESTIBLE FRACTION OF COMESTIBLE BIOMASS ACCUMULATES.

ASTRONAUTS IN SPACE LIVE IN AN ENCLOSED ECOLOGICAL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM WHERE THE NON-DIGESTIBLE FRACTION OF COMESTIBLE BIOMASS ACCUMULATES. FOR SHORT DURATION MISSIONS, AN ASTRONAUT'S METABOLIC NEEDS ARE MET FROM ON-BOARD STORES AND THEIR WASTES DISPOSED. HOWEVER, THE WASTE FRACTION REPRESENTS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF BULK, AS WELL AS MASS AND STORED ENERGY, AND, THEREFORE, FOR LONG TERM MISSIONS, REQUIRED RECYCLING. PROGRESS IN BIOTECHNOLOGY HAS REACHED A POINT WHERE IT IS POSSIBLE TO OBTAIN ENZYMES CAPABLE OF HYDROLYZING THE CARBOHYDRATES IN BIOMASS TO THEIR COMPONENT BASIC SUGARS. IN GENERAL, BIOLOGICAL METHODS, ENZYMATIC CONVERSION MAKES POSSIBLE THE PRODUCTION OF SUGARS, BASIC CHEMICALS, AND FOODS FROM THE LARGE AMOUNTS OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC MATERIALS NOW TREATED AS WASTE. OF SPECIAL INTEREST IS THE CONVERSION OF CELLULOSE TO ITS MONOSACCHARIDE GLUCOSE, BLOOD SUGAR. THE PURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ON A SIMPLE SMALL SCALE ENZYMATOR/HYDROLYZOR (EH) UNIT CAPABLE OF REDUCING THE ASTRONAUT'S NON-DIGESTIBLE VEGETATIVE WASTE FRACTION. THE EH UNIT CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO NASA'S CONTROLLED ECOLOGICAL LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM (CELSS) AND WILL BE PART OF OUR WASTE MANAGEMENT MODULE (WMM) OF THE SPACE FARM, A SYSTEM SYMBIOTIC AND COMPLEMENTARY TO AN ASTRONAUT'S NEEDS. POSSIBLE PRODUCTS OF A WMM ARE GLUCOSE OR OTHER SUGARS, ALCOHOLS, ALDEHYDES, ORGANIC ACIDS, METHANE, VITAMINS, SALTS, SLUDGE, AND WATER. THE EH SYSTEM WILL BE DESIGNED TO FACILITATE RESEARCH FOR THE DETERMINATION OF PERTINENT CONVERSION PARAMETERS, TO TEST COMPUTER SIMULATION (MODELING), AND TO SERVE AS A TEST BED FOR INSTRUMENTATION.