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Subject: Green CELSS progress
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 21:31:27 -0000 (GMT)
From: Terry Kok |
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Okay fellow Martians-to-be ... Now it gets serious. I
have 2 weeks (self-imposed) to get a preliminary CELSS
proposal to Robert. In the upcoming 2 weeks I'm going
to be a very person. This is your chance to
communicate about your designs, perspectives, and to
and your expertise to the project. Read the test below
and. if you think you can add useful input, join the
GCTF because that is where the discussion is going to
be getting serious. On the other hand, I will be
posting updates here. Check out the correspondance
then subscribe:
GreenCELSSTaskFORCE-subscribe@egroups.com
To: GreenCELSSTaskFORCE@egroups.com
From: Terry Kok Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 13:49:38 -0700 (PDT)
Co-researchers,
It has been nearly a week since the recent Mars
Society conference in Toronto, which I and
other members of the Green CELSS Task Force,
attended. I'm not about to give a blow-by-blow
account of the proceedings but I would like to
note that the paper I presented on CELSS was
well-received. I was swamped with questions,
compliments on our work, and a growing
understanding that CELSS is core to sustainable
life support, on Earth and on Mars. A potential
project funder made contact and you can be sure
that I will be pursuing this capitalization
opportunity. I presented at 3:30 on Saturday
afternoon. By Sunday afternoon I was informed
that my presentation was one of the "hits" of the
convention. Let us hope so. For, without CELSS
there is no real possibility of maintaining life on
Mars and, with the continuing population
explosion and global warming situation,
maintaining a high standard of living on Earth.
On a less positive note, the MS steering
committee has made it clear that the Flashline
Mars Arctic Research Station on Devon Island
will not be a potential CELSS research and
deployment site. They would much rather import
food and export the waste they've been storing
in barrels than attempt real on-the-spot recycling
and food production. I do not agree with this
ill-informed decision but I am not in a place to
do more than protest what I consider to be a lost
opportunity to test the REAL THING in a very
cold and hostile Mars-like environment. On the
other hand, the MS steering committee has
decided that they are going to, in the future,
begin working on creating more test habitats in
other Mars analog environments, including the
hot and sweltering Arizona desert. Instead of
heating our CELSS we will be attempting to
cool it! Maybe we should be designing for
Venus, not Mars. Whatever the case, it help the
financial end if our CELSS is included in a high
profile mission. Several companies have
expressed interest in prodiving their materials
and expertise at no charge if they can have their
name and logo displayed. "Without bucks there
can be no Buck Rogers." - the Right Stuff
Whatever the Mars Society big-wigs decide, let
us reaffirm our commitment to designing and
constructing a robust human-rated CELSS
which may be adapted for use in ANY
environment: hot. cold, wet, dry, or in between.
On the spot, 100% recycling is needed
everywhere, as is a reliable means of controled
food production. As an organic gardener I know
how much work goes into outdoor gardening,
subject to the whims of the weather and the wide
variety of pests we encounter, especially due to
the migration of insects caused by a shifting
climate. A hermetically sealed habitat-attached
CELSS will provide a much more stable means
of life support than what most of us are
accustomed too. In the future every home should
have a CELSS-style greenhouse.
That being said, I now come to the task at hand:
co-designing our CELSS. I have a basic drawing
posted at
http://www.geocities.com/lady_fever/Dadmunch.JPG
(one of my daughter's websites). This is a
BASIC diagram of the systems I propose,
without verbal description. This will come later.
Feel free to take a look at the diagram and ask
questions if you so desire. I more detailed and
descriptive presentation will be available
sometime later this year, after we work out some
solutions to other points on our R&D outline:
I. POWER/ELECTRICS: D. sensor/controls
net: I've been in contact with a number of
companies who might be able to supply the
GCTF with the sensors we need. Industrial
Scientific Corporation at http://www.indsci.com
has a wonerful line of atmospheric gas sensors.
Horiba Corporation at http://www.horiba.co.jp
has the best water quality monitors I've been
able to locate. Between these two companies I
think we can put together our sensors/controls
net for the atmosphere, potable water, and
ecosystems subsystems. Feel free to contact
them for their brochures.
II. DESIGN/MATERIALS - I'm still convinced
that an inflatable greenhouse is best, for weight,
storage, transport, and deployment reasons. I've
been looking into a material called Tefzel made
by Dupont. Tefzel is akin to teflon but can be
formed into thin translucent sheets which are
tough, durable, and impermeable. Unless a better
material comes alone, this is it. Dupont makes
the raw material (in beads or chips) which
companies purchase as a raw material from
which they fabricate product. I've had some
difficulty locating a company which fabricates
sheeting from Tefzel. I could use some help in
this area. Please post your results here.
IV. CROPS/HORTICULTURE - Work still
needs to be done in several areas here. We need
a more xpansive list of edible recreting
halophytes (besides spinach, sugar beets, and
lambs quarter) so that we can mine the sodium
chloride from our waste stream. We need YOU
to dig into this area and post your results. If we
cannot find enough recreting (salt absorbing and
storing) halophytes we will not be able to
remove the sodium chloride and our CELSS will
slowly turn into a desert! Another research area
is the diet. Okay folks, at first (early mission) we
will be vegans (like it or not). Space and
complexity issues make it so. As vegans we will
need a full compliment of proteins/amino acids
plus all the fats, oils, starches, sugars, vitamins,
and minerals we can muster. Besides this, we
need seed crops to replentish our seed stores.
Some of the plants must be grown full term. Of
all the plants I've researched, wheat grass,
grown in a continual sprouting system (mowed
like a lawn), is the closest to a complete food
that requires little upkeep and does not have to
be killed (just trimmed) to be eaten. What other
grasses might we include? What are your
suggestions as to other potential crops? We are
looking for compact varieties with maximum
useful biomass.
Dig through your R&D outline. Find something
you can research. If you need another copy,
email me and I will email you one. There is
plenty of need for you in the Green CELSS Task
Force. Sitting by the sidelines will not get us to
Mars or even help us to survive on Earth.
Become a hidden hero/heroine. Do the Great
Thing. After all, we are co-designing the LIFE
SUPPORT for the future of humanity. Without it
someone is going to die. That's the all too real
bottom line. Take initiative. If you can't find the
solution, search out and RECRUIT someone
who can. Seriously. That's teamwork. Our
mission is CORE to successful survival. Let's
get on with it.
"Failure is not an option!" - Gene Kranz, former
NASA flight director: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo
Moon missions
Terry Ryan Kok - Green CELSS focalizer
biostar_a@yahoo.com (812-275-0694
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To: Greens4Mars@egroups.com
From: beyer@pilot-ind.com
Date: Sun, 20 Aug 2000 21:50:11 -0400
re: Mars HQ Decision on CELSS on Devon Island.
I was trying to recall exactly what was said on that
matter. I won't
dispute your statements, because I can't be sure, and
I didn't take adequate
enough notes on that.
My take on it was that, yes, CELSS wasn't to be
researched on Devon Island;
but should a system be developed, I thought they
indicated an interest in
incorporating it on the Devon Island hab. Was I
mistaken?
I think the larger issue is not negativity about CELSS
on Devon Island; but
making use of a very scarce resource there. That and
the fact the the
"design" of the Hab goes little beyond the curved
walls and the domed top.
I don't think they really know what will go where and
how it will fit in it.
- -Jim Beyer
- --------------------
To: Greens4Mars@egroups.com
From: Terry Kok
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 07:45:34 -0700 (PDT)
Several such systems have been built and tested. The
information is available to build the next generation
CELSS and test it to see where we need to improve it.
I have had no indication what-so-ever that one is
wanted on Devon Island. In fact, I was told that there
was no need for one on Devon but that there may be
room for one at a future analog station. I think you
may be mistaken.
Making use of what "very scarce resource"? The only
resource from Devon we would be using is the waste
products that come out of our bodies.
Terry Ryan
- ----------------
To Greens4Mars@egroups.com
From: beyer@pilot-ind.com
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 10:59:11 -0400
Access to Devon Island is a scarce resource. Every
person sent there
incurs $5k or so in transportation costs. All
equipment has to be flown
in on plane. The season is very short. That's the
resource scarcity.
There are still figuring out how to grow things there,
and I'm assuming
(unless I'm mistaken) that building a greenhouse is a
first step.
The other scarce resource I was referring to is the
Hab itself. I'm not
sure if they allocated adequate space in the hab for
CELSS equipment, along
with all the other stuff they want to do in there.
Maybe they did. Maybe
it doesn't take up much space. But I know they
haven't even figured out
the layout of the gloveboxes and scientific equipment,
which is even more
relevant to performing "operational testing" than the
CELSS.
Yes, they have to truck out all the wastes, etc.
produced. So at some level,
I think they are interested. Can a CELSS be turned
on, run for 6 weeks and
then shut off and do much good?
- -Jim
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To: Greens4Mars@egroups.com
From: Terry Kok
Mon, 21 Aug 2000 09:01:27 -0700 (PDT)
The CELSS I'm speaking about IS contained in a
greenhouse (inflatable).
The CELSS is EXTERNAL to the HAB.
That (short research season on Devon) poses a problem
with
full-scale total food
production CELSS using higher plants (tomatoes,
potatoes, etc.). Yet, this problem can be overcome by
using algae and grass-based systems which can be
quickly brought on line (within a week) and simply
allowed to dry out at the end of the season. - TK
Terry Ryan Kok
- --------------------
From: Zubrin@aol.com
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 2000 17:28:52 EDT
Subject: Re: bioregenerative life support and the MS
analog program
Terry;
Don't worry. We fully intend to bring bioregenerative
life support into our
Mars analog research program. It's just that Devon
Island this past summer
was not the time.
Robert
- -------------
Date: Tue, 22 Aug 2000 15:50:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Terry Kok Subject:
To: Zubrin@aol.com
Robert,
I wish you had been able to make it to my
presentation. It was not the surface one which I did
in Dayton, Ohio. I showed drawing on my current
systems, explained what I've learned, and showed basic
drawings for the next generation of CELSS. Using the
right hardware, we can do it next year if we get a
mandate from the MS board. I have several companies
who have expressed interest in footing the bill in
exchange for a visible logo on the CELSS. I cannot
move forward with them without a mandate. The system
I'm working on is a state-of-the-art inflatable and
would be packed into a couple of 55 gallon plastic
drums.
Besides the obvious analog studies an actual hardware
testing, the CELSS would provide the greenhouse that
the public wants to see. I am sure you are very aware
of how much public support means to the MS. Give the
Green CELSS Task Force a mandate and we will deliver.
Terry Ryan Kok
- -----------------
From: Zubrin@aol.com
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 10:46:45 EDT
Can you send me a package of info about this system?
Robert
- ----------------
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 09:29:20 -0700 (PDT)
From: Terry Kok
Yes, I can, I will have it to you in about 2 weeks. To
what address do you wish me to send it?
Terry Ryan Kok - scientist, ecotechnician, wizard
Elf Lore Family ELDER - Sanctuary Rock facilitator
Green CELSS Task Force focalizer
Starlight Technology: (812) 275-0694
biostar_a@yahoo.com
- -----------------------
From: Zubrin@aol.com
Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 16:38:41 EDT
Robert Zubrin
Box 273
Indian Hills, CO 80454
=====
Terry Ryan Kok - scientist, ecotechnician, wizard
Elf Lore Family ELDER - Sanctuary Rock facilitator
Green CELSS Task Force focalizer
Starlight Technology: (812) 275-0694
biostar_a@yahoo.com
_
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Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
http://mail.yahoo.com/
- ---------------------------------------------
Mars Society Life Support Task Force
Email - life-support@chapters.marssociety.org
http://home.marssociety.org/tech/life-support/
Arctic Base - http://arctic.marssociety.org/ |
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