Bioregenerative food system cost based on optimized menus for advanced life support.

Area of Science:

• Space exploration
• Bioregenerative life support systems
• Sustainable food production

Background:

• Developing sustainable food sources is critical for long-duration space missions.
• Bioregenerative life support systems (BLSS) aim to recycle resources for crew survival.
• Current non-regenerative systems (e.g., Space Transportation System, International Space Station) have limitations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To optimize menu planning for a BLSS.
• To determine crop production area and system costs.
• To identify areas for cost reduction in BLSS food production.

Main Methods:

• Menu optimization based on crop productivity, acceptability, diversity, and crew nutritional needs.
• Calculation of crop biomass requirements considering processing and preparation losses.
• Estimation of system costs, including equipment, labor, power, and cooling.

Main Results:

• An optimized menu requires 453 m2 of crop production area for six crew.
• The estimated cost is 7.3 kg per crew per day (ESM), including waste processing.
• Equipment (60%), labor (26%), and power/cooling (14%) constitute the main cost factors.

Conclusions:

• The developed optimized menu provides a framework for BLSS food production.
• Current system costs are higher than non-regenerative systems but offer potential for reduction.
• Improvements in crop productivity, equipment efficiency, and operational planning can lower overall BLSS food system costs.