NASA has selected 10 researchers to receive grants to develop
advanced technologies needed to produce food, recycle water and air,
and monitor spacecraft environments required for long-term human
space exploration.
The grants, totaling approximately $5.4 million over three years,
will create a vital knowledge base in these important areas.
NASA’s Office of Biological and Physical Research funds multi-
disciplinary research that uses the space environment to address
fundamental scientific questions and helps prepare for further human
exploration of space. These grants will lead to technologies that can
be used in low Earth orbit, on the International Space Station and
for future human exploration of the solar system.
Four of the grants are for new technologies in advanced environmental
monitoring of spacecraft habitats, one proposal addresses water
processing technology, and the five others address plant growth in
space.
NASA received 50 proposals in response to its research announcement
in this research area. These proposals were all peer-reviewed by
scientific and technical experts from academia, government, and
industry.
List of Selectees (By State):
California
Martin G. Buehler
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Wastewater Reclamation Electrochemical Sensor Technology (WREST)
Illinois
Richard M. Lueptow
Northwestern University
Advancing Rotating Membrane Water Purification for Human Life Support in Space
Indiana
Cary A. Mitchell
Purdue University
Intracanopy Lighting of Planophile ALS Crop Species with Select-Bandwidth Radiation for Energy and Mass Conservation in Regenerative
Life-Support Systems
Massachusetts
Pamela J. Weathers
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Providing Efficient Rootzone Aeration for Plants Cultured in Low Gravity
North Carolina
Chang-Soo Kim
North Carolina State University
Development of a Self-Calibrating Dissolved Oxygen Microsensor Array for the Monitoring and Control of Plant Growth in a Space
Environment
New York
Louis D. Albright
Cornell University
Advancing the Readiness of Cabbage, Spinach and Lettuce for Fresh Salad Use in Long Duration Spaceflight Missions
Ohio
Gary W. Hunter
NASA Glenn Research Center
Microsystems-Based Hydrazine Detection System for International Space Station and EVA Applications
Tennessee
Gary S. Sayler
University of Tennessee – Knoxville
Bioluminescent Monitoring of Opportunistic Pathogens in the Spacecraft Environment
Texas
Susan L. Steinberg
NASA Johnson Space Center
Flow and Distribution of Fluid Phases through Porous Plant Growth Media in Microgravity
Utah
Bruce G. Bugbee
Utah State University
Ethylene Synthesis and Sensitivity in Salad Crops: Interactions with Root and Shoot Environmental Stress in Microgravity Conditions