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Development and research program for a soil-based bioregenerative

agriculture system to feed a four person crew at a Mars base

Article  in  Advances in Space Research · February 2003

DOI: 10.1016/S0273-1177(02)00661-0 · Source: PubMed

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DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR A SOIL-BASED

BIOREGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE SYSTEM TO FEED A FOUR
PERSON CREW AT A MARS BASE

S. S i l v e r s t o n e 1,2,3, M. Nelson, 1,2,3, A. Ailing 1,2,3, j. Allen 1,2,3

1Biosphere Foundation, 9 Silver Hills Rd. Santa Fe, NM 87505, USA

2Biosphere Technologies, 7 Silver Hills Rd. Santa Fe, NM 87505, USA
3Institute of Ecotechnics, 24 Old Gloucester St., WC! 3AL, London, UK

ABSTRACT

For humans to survive during long-term missions on the Martian surface, bioregenerative life support systems including food
production will decrease requirements for launch of Earth supplies, and increase mission safety. It is proposed that the
development of "modular biospheres"- closed system units that can be air-locked together and which contain soil-based
bioregenerative agriculture, horticulture, with a wetland wastewater treatment system is an approach for Mars habitation
scenarios. Based on previous work done in long-term life support at Biosphere 2 and other closed ecological systems, this
consortium proposes a research and development program called Mars On Earth TM which will simulate a life support system
designed for a four person crew. The structure will consist of 6 x 110 square meter modular agricultural units designed to
produce a nutritionally adequate diet for 4 people, recycling all air, water and waste, while utilizing a soil created by the
organic enrichment and modification of Mars simulant soils. Further research needs are discussed, such as determining optimal
light levels for growth of the necessary range of crops, energy trade-offs for agriculture (e.g. light intensity vs. required area),
capabilities of Martian soils and their need for enrichment and elimination of oxides, strategies for use of human waste
products, and maintaining atmospheric balance between people, plants and soils. © 2002 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier
Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION
The need for totally self-sustaining life support systems for long-term habitation on the Martian surface has long been
recognized (Bubenheim et al, 1995; Zubrin, 1996). Such a system would make maximum use of locally available resources on
the Martian surface and would at first minimize and ultimately eliminate, in as short a time as possible, the need for expensive
re-supply from earth. Self-sufficiency for the Martian colony would improve crew safety and chances of survival should
support systems provided by Earth fail.
Experimentation in the creation of closed ecological systems for human life support have varied from the early Soviet work
in 1950-1980's (Shepelev, 1972; Terskov, et al., 1979) using algae-based systems capable of oxygen and water regeneration to
the Biosphere 2 experiment with its complex and evolving ecosystems designed as a test-bed for closed systems research from
the 1980's to 1994. (Alien, et al., 1999). Over the last few decades work has continued at N.A.S.A. using growth chamber and
greenhouse experiments to optimize crop production using hybridization and selection for improved cultivars. These are grown
under a variety of atmospheric conditions and light levels using chemically based nutrient supply systems. Closed system
research at the Biosphere 2 facility ceased in 1994. The creation and testing of a soil-based bioregenerative agriculture system
capable of providing a complete diet, both in terms of nutrition and palatability, on a scale that would make it feasible for use
for application to long term habitation on a Mars base is the necessary next step. The overall design of the Mars on Earth TM
facility also includes habitat modules and workspaces that will in total provide complete life support facilities for long-term
Mars settlement. This paper deals only with the agriculture component.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The proposal to center a research and development program on the use of 6 x 110 square meter modular agricultural units is
based largely on the previous experience of the authors with the system utilized during the first 2 two year 1991-1993 closure
experiment at Biosphere 2. A second 6-month closure in 1994 also provided relevant data. The experiments illustrated the
feasibility of maintaining a self-sustaining soil-based agriculture system with a wetland wastewater treatment system for
processing and recycling human waste for an 8-person crew. The results of these experiments have been widely published

Adv.SpaceRes.Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 69-75, 2003

© 2002 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
0273-1177/03 $22.00 + 0.00
70 S. Silverstoneet al.

elsewhere (Silverstone et al., 1995; Silverstone et al., 1997; Silverstone et al., 1999; Nelson et al., 1999; Marmo et al., 1999)
and will not be discussed in detail here.
To summarize: during the first two year experiment the Biosphere 2 2000m2 cropping area provided about 80% of overall
nutritional needs for the crew. The diet consisted of an average of 2200 calories, 73 g. of protein and 32 g. of fat per person per
day over the course of two years. During the second six-month closure experiment new cultivars and management techniques
were introduced based on the experience gained during the first closure. In some cases crop production was improved by more
than 100%. (Marino et al, 1999). Production in the Biosphere 2 system was sufficient for life support and enhanced health but
was not optimal in that there was some weight loss of crewmembers due to lowered caloric intake. (Walford et al., 1992). The
second closure experiment did produce a diet sufficient to maintain weight but was of shorter duration. The proposed research
and development program is designed to build on lessons learned from Biosphere 2 research optimizing production and
diversity of plant species while at the same time taking into account the possible constraints in structure and capacity of a
system operating on the Martian surface. It will also address areas that need further research as indicated by the Biosphere 2
experience.

THE AGRICULTURE SYSTEM

The Mars on Earth research and development agriculture system consists of six modular units each with a footprint of 110
square meters (total 660 m2). Approximately 478 m2 will be used for growing crops leaving approximately 182 m2 for access,
equipment and processing. The units will be soil-based using soils produced from simulants of Mars surface soil. The goal is to
produce a complete diet and to recycle all waste products including human waste from the crew while maintaining an
atmospheric balance suitable for plant growth and human habitation. The use of six units is being proposed in order to provide
both variety in temperature regime and safety in redundancy.
The aim of the test-bed facility is to reproduce as closely as possible a system that could be used on Mars which includes
the ability to deal with possible emergency scenarios such as crop failure or mechanical failure of one of the units. The
experiment will be continuous - reproducing in so far as possible the continuous production that will be needed to support a
permanent settlement. Six growing areas with separate temperature and humidity controls will give the ability to provide
optimum ranges for the different kinds of plants being grown in any particular module at any particular time. In general the
temperatures will range from 15.5 to 32.2 deg. C. with humidity ranges between 30% and 45%.
It is envisaged that the units would share a common air and water circulation system but be linked in such a way that they
could, if necessary, operate independently or in case of damage, be isolated from the rest of the system. The field crops would
rotate between five of the modular units and the sixth unit would be used as a permanent tropical horticulture area supporting
banana and papaya trees and a variety of tropical under-storey crops. This latter unit would be operated at higher temperatures
and humidity levels than the other five. This unit would also house the water recycling system.

Crops
The initial proposal for the crop composition is outlined below (Table 1). Ten basic crops can provide 3000 Kcal, 79 g. of
protein and 35 g. of fat per person per day. These crops would be supplemented with vegetables, herbs, and spices, from a 32.5
m2area put aside for this purpose and also from a variety of crops grown in the under story of the tropical horticulture biome.
Table 2 shows some estimated yield figures and necessary crop growing area given light input of 50 mol. m2 if1. The yield
figures taken for the basis of these calculations are based on the best producing crop of each type grown in Biosphere 2 during
the first two-year closure experiment. Apart from the wheat, these crops were grown during the second summer with an
average light level of 25 mol. m 2 d1. For all the crops except wheat, papaya and banana, a doubling of yield was extrapolated
with light increased to 50 mol. m2 d~. These yield figures have yet to be proven for the crops listed, however work carried out
at Utah State University (Bugbee et al., 1988) on the limits of crop productivity would indicate that these yields are reasonable
and perhaps conservative using a light level of 50 mol. m2 d2 . After further research, design scenarios may call for less
growing area to supply a Mars exploration crew of 4-5. The yield projected for banana and papaya are based on the production
rates obtained in Biosphere 2. The wheat crop with the best yield during mission one was grown in the winter with an average
light level of 16 mol. m-2 d2.
The diet utilizes the ten crops chosen; wheat, rice, sweet potato, peanut, soybean, pinto, beetroot, winter squash, banana and
papaya because of their success and suitability in the Biosphere 2 experiments They are hardy, dependable and relatively easy
to harvest and process with a minimum of equipment. The ease of processing is an important consideration given the desire to
minimize crew time necessary for food production. Supplemented with fruits and vegetables from the vegetable area and
horticulture under-storey they can form the basis of a healthy vegetarian diet (Walford, 1992).
 Soil Based Bioregenerative System 71

Table 1. Calculation of Protein and Fat based on a 3000 Kcal/person/day or 12,000 Kca114 person crew/day

Crop %of diet Kcal/person crop wt/ grams of crop proton protein from ~t content ~t from
~erday calorie pcr day conten~gm crop/day /gm crop/day
content (KcaVg)
Rice 15% 450 3.5 128.57 0.13 16.71 0.01 1.29
Wheat 10% 300 3.3 90.91 0.13 11.82 0.02 1.82
Sweet Potato 25% 750 1.06 707.55 0.01 7.08 0.0028 1.98
Peanut 5% 150 5.84 25.68 0.26 6.68 0.48 12.33
Soybean 5% 150 4.02 37.31 0.08 2.99 0.18 6.72
Pinto Bean 10% 300 3.42 87.72 0.24 21.05 0.0086 0.75
Winter squash 7.50% 225 0.634 354.89 0.01 3.55 0.001 0.35
Beet root 7.50% 225 0.445 505.62 0.01 5.06 0.0002 0.1
Banana 10% 300 0.6 500.00 0.006 3.00 0.02 10
Papaya 5% 150 0.26 576.92 0.003 1.73 0.0007 0.40
Total 3000 3015.18 79.66 35.74

Table 2 Scenario with 50 Einsteins Light.

Design calculations for area of each crop to supply 12,000 Kcal/4 person crew/day

Crop Kcal Best yield Bio 2 Light level Correction Extz'apolated Extrapolated Area required
for 4 crew Kg.m'2 ti~ Bio 2 factor for 50 Yk~ld in 50 Yield in for feeding
daily moPm a t I t moPm"ti' mortm "2tl t Kcal jhl-2jcly 4 crew
Kg.m-~ti ~
Wheat 1200 0.0024 16 3 0.0073 24.38 49.22
Rice 1800 0.0057 25 2 0.0114 40.55 44.39
Sw. potato 3000 0.0160 25 2 0.0320 33.89 88.51
Peanut 600 0.0014 25 2 0.0028 16.32 36.77
Soybean 600 0.0013 25 2 0.0026 10.64 56.41
Pinto Bean 1200 0.0037 25 2 0.0074 25.36 47.32
Beet (root) 900 0.0232 25 2 0.0464 20.45 44.01
W. squash 900 0.0425 25 2 0.0850 54.32 16.57
Banana 1200 0.0498 25 1 0.0498 29.64 40.48
Papaya 600 0.1064 25 1 0.1084 28.68 20.92
12000 445

A d d 33 sq m of salad g r e e n s a n d o t h e r leafy v e g e t a b l e s , = 4 7 8 m 2
Area of fruit crops (banana + papaya) =61 m 2
Area of field crops in agriculture = 414 m 2

Soil
For long-term sustainability a soil-based system will be needed using locally available materials. The creation of a
biologically active fertile Martian soil simulant to test plant growth is one o f the main areas being proposed for future studies.
Experiments with plant growth chambers have shown that systems reliant on complex chemical nutrient feed systems require a
degree of time and expertise to operate that would make it impractical for space settlement. For example the Breadboard
facility at KSC requires about 20 Scientists to produce half the nutritional requirements for one person. (NASA Tech Brief
KSC-11761). The soil component would have to be capable not only of providing nutrient for plant growth but also of
recycling waste materials with a minimum ofpre-processing.
 72 S. Silverstone et al.

Nutrient Recycling
Returning nutrient to the soil will be achieved through a combination of re-circulating soil leachate (drainage water that is
collected subsurface after passing through the cropping soil), applying the discharge effluent of a wetland waste water system,
and returning solid plant matter to the soil through composting or shredding and mulching. The integration of a wetland
wastewater treatment system into the overall system has been detailed elsewhere (Nelson et al., 2001). Wetland treatment
systems fit well with a soil-based bioregenerative agriculture system. A prototype system was tested in Biosphere 2 where it
was used to handle all wastewater from the human habitat, domestic animal urine and pen wash-down water, and effluent from
medical labs and workshops. It requires the same environmental conditions necessary for crop growth, has low labor
requirements and requires no re-supply from Earth of machinery or chemicals. Wastewater treatment for a 4-person Mars
habitation could be accomplished in 4-8 m 2 (Nelson et al., 2001; Nelson et al., 2002). This is considerably smaller than would
be required for a terrestrial application as there is no need to achieve high nutrient uptake. The effluent water would carry
nutrients to the soils of the agriculture system helping to maintain soil fertility. Some food crops can been grown in the system
and the wetland will contribute to the purification process of the internal air of the space habitat and the production of potable
water through purification by transpiration by the green plants and condensation of atmospheric humidity.
Because composting of plant material requires considerable manpower, inedible plant biomass will mostly be returned to
the agriculture fields by grinding it on site and immediately returning it to the soil after harvesting. Kitchen waste such as
unused food scraps and vegetable peelings can be processed in a small worm box approximately 0.5 m 2 in area (Appelhof,
1977).

Harvesting, Processing, Storage

The crops chosen are easy to harvest by hand with basic hand tools. The processing requires a minimum of processing
machinery. The basic equipment required would be a de-huller, a small grain thresher a grinder and oil press. In such a small
system there is unlikely to be any need for very long term storage facilities. Airtight buckets and storage bags for the beans and
grains will be adequate and a cool low humidity area for storage of squash, fruit and root crops.

A GROUND- BASED TEST-BED FACILITY:KEY RESEARCH AREAS

The Biosphere Consortium (The Biosphere Foundation, Biosphere Technologies, Institute of Ecotechnics and Biospheric
Design Inc.) is designing a research and development center called Mars On Earth the development of a ground-based test-bed
facility to simulate a 4-person manned Mars mission utilizing a biospheric closed life support system. (Ailing et al, 2002Allen
et al., 1998). The agriculture component will ultimately be comprised of the six modular units described above and will
determine the feasibility of maintaining humans in a self-sustaining system on a remote planet. The system will be
atmospherically closed but open to energy, information and material exchanges. The material exchanges will include any
imports necessary to facilitate the experimental objectives for developing a long-term closed system. This paper does not
address the issues of structure and construction, energy requirements and mechanical systems although these will also be part
of the ongoing research and development. For some discussion of concepts and research needs in these areas see (Dempster,
2002)

Preliminary Research
As a preliminary phase to the construction of the 4-person ground based test-bed facility, the consortium is currently
developing and testing a much smaller unit consisting of a 1200-1400 cu ft sealed tank with a variable expansion chamber. The
tank is artificially lit with 1000-watt high-pressure sodium lights capable of lighting the growing area with variable intensity.
The tank has a 58 sq ft growing area with a 1-foot depth of soil. This small materially closed chamber, called the Laboratory
Biosphere will be used by the consortium to further experiment with the following:
a) The Engineering of closed ecological systems.
b) Management of a soil-based agriculture system.
c) Studies of the biogeochemical cycles within the system.
d) Cultivar testing.
e) Use of automated data acquisition and control systems to minimize human labor and attention requirements and
provide real-time modeling for operations and research.

Soil Research Needs

Given our past experience in the use of planet Earth's soils as part of a materially closed ecological system, further research
is needed in the area of overall soils design and nutrient cycling management.
Experiments are underway to establish a minimum soil depth needed to adequately support and sustain the planned grain,
vegetable and tree crops. A starting point for the 5 agriculture modules would be a 0.6 m depth with a 10 cm to 15 cm gravel
drainage layer at the bottom. This would consist of 15 cm topsoil with a 1-2 % organic matter by weight that has a high
percentage of young (labile) carbon readily available for plant use and a sandy clay loam texture for its good drainage and
water-holding qualities and workability. A 45 cm deep subsoil will be composed of 1-2 % organic matter and carbon
predominantly from a long-term pool. (Harwood, 1997). A starting point for the tropical horticulture production module would
be 1 m of soil with a 10 cm drainage layer.
 Soil Based Bioregenerative System 73

Analysis performed after 18 months of operation of the agriculture system of Biosphere 2 indicated that recycling techniques
and soil management strategies had maintained adequate levels of soil fertility during the first 2 years of closure (Silverstone,
et al., 1999). However a longer testing period with careful monitoring of soil leachate content and soil nutrient content is
needed to determine the long-term effects of the recycling strategies outlined above. Based on the Biosphere 2 experience, salt
build up over time may be one problem area. Also the tendency of some nutrients such as phosphorus and some micronutrients
to be immobilized, as insoluble complexes will have to be better monitored and techniques developed as counter measures.
Future experimentation centers on the design of a biologically active soil that could be developed using Martian regolith
along with management strategies to maintain this soil.
Clearly with the knowledge currently available to us about the composition of Martian regolith the soil composition will be
an approximation. A far better understanding will be gained when Martian regolith samples are returned to earth. Knowledge
gained from the Gamma Ray Spectrometer and the Thermal Emission Imaging System on the Mars Odyssy will tell us more
about the composition of Martin regolith and there is currently a NASA program that charts a course of exploration for the next
two decades involving orbiters and "smart landers" all of which will contribute further to this body of knowledge. However,
current plans do not include a sample return mission until 2014.
Our current knowledge of the content of Martian regolith is based largely on measurements taken at the two Viking landing
sites, analysis of meteorites thought to have originated on Mars, and spectral observations. Almost all the major elements of
life have been shown to be present and also most of the trace elements required although potassium may be in short supply
(Meyer and McKay, 1996). The presence of phosphorus although not detected by the Viking experiment is thought likely, its
signal perhaps having been masked by the strong adjacent sulfur signal (Clark, 1984.) Speculated problems include possible
toxicity due to high levels of peroxides or metals and high salinity. The regolith may have to be processed before it can be used
for plant growth (Boston, 1984, McKay et al., 1993)
As Martian regolith appears to be loosely packed and porus and containing smectite clays (Stoker et al., 1993) it is likely to
be well adapted mechanically for the support of plant life.
Initially research in the test-bed facility will be aimed at the question of adding appropriate quantities of organic matter to
turn Martian regolith into an active soil using the best simulant available. A Martian soil simulant has recently been developed
for use in research called JSC Mars-1. This simulant "approximates within the limits of current understanding, the reflectance
spectrum, mineralogy, chemical composition, grain size, density, porosity and magnetic properties of the oxidized soil of
Mars".(Allen, et al., 1998).
A series of experiments will be conducted in planting areas containing JSC Mars-l, inoculating the simulant soil with plant
waste material and effluent from a wetland waste treatment system to produce a fertile soil. We would aim for a minimum of
2% organic matter by weight this being considered the minimum required for healthy plant production. (Harwood, 1997). As
more knowledge is gained about the nature of possible toxicity in the Martian regolith the facility could also be used to
experiment with methods of removing toxicities using more accurate simulants.

Optimum light levels research

Optimum light levels for most potential plant crops growing in soil-based systems have yet to be determined although a
great deal of research has been done with wheat and rice under the NASA Celss program using chemical nutrient delivery
systems. It seems likely that a light regime providing 50 mol. m -2 d~combined with optimal soil, temperature and nutrient
conditions would actually produce higher yields than those outlined in Table 2. However other considerations for space
applications such as heat load and energy requirements also have to be taken into account. This also will affect decisions on the
decision to use incident sunlight through fiber-optic or the use of partially transparent roofs for the plant growing modules
rather than using totally opaque structures. Research in the test-bed facility will aim at determining an optimal light regime
including light levels and day lengths for the diverse crop system outlined taking in to consideration these other factors. This
will help to determine the minimal size requirements for the 4-person system.

Maintenance of atmospheric balance

In addition to providing 100% of food and, water and wastewater recycling, this prototype system will need to recycle and
regenerate the atmosphere. Based on the Biosphere 2 closed system experiment, advances were made in the know-how and
application of atmosphere regeneration and monitoring: First, all materials chosen for the modular space biospheres will be
selected with no toxic out-gassing. Second, air will be restored using plants and soil microbes. A decline in oxygen, as
experienced in Biosphere 2 is not expectedto occur in the modular space biosphere since un-sealed cement, sequestering
oxygen in the form of carbon dioxide and a large reservoir of oxidizing organic soils included in the 100-year organic cycle for
Biosphere 2 ecology will not be part of this design. Therefore, the critical area of research necessary for this space biosphere is
the f'me-tuning of the carbon dioxide cycles. The soil organic structure, photosynthetic plant biomass, light levels, crop
harvests, and waste recycling techniques will be carefully designed to maintain the atmospheric carbon dioxide in a supply and
demand state under 8,000 ppm.

Cuitivar research
Testing of improved crop cultivars and alternative crops for particular dietary needs will be another key research area. The
banana, sweet potato, and squash cultivars used in biosphere 2 proved excellent and are the choice of selection for the space
biosphere. However other cultivars used in Biosphere 2 were adequate for the task but not necessarily optimal in terms of their
74 S. Silverstone et al.

productivity. At present peanut is the main candidate oil crop but finding alternatives is an important area of research because
processing small amounts of peanut for oil proved to be very inefficient in Biosphere 2 and the crew eventually decided to
manage without cooking oil and eat the peanuts whole due to the high percentage of wastage and to reduce labor requirements.
One possible oil candidate is Chuffa. The agricultural system will aim to be self sufficient in seed production, which would
preclude the use of hybrid cultivars. For some vegetable crops this will involve developing special seed production areas where
small numbers of plants are allowed to develop to the seed bearing stage. The problem of cross-pollination of some vegetables
will also have to be addressed.

Pest control research

The extent to which it will be possible to eliminated crop pests on a future Mars Base is as yet unknown. However in an
earth-bound test-bed facility, insect pests, mildews and soil pathogens are almost a certainty. Non-toxic pest control methods
will be essential to the well being of this small scale sealed environment where air and water re-circulation make use of toxic
biocides extremely hazardous. Techniques, which replace toxic chemicals, include use of pest resistant cultivars, crop rotation,
introduction of beneficial insects, environmental manipulation human intervention and the use of safe sprays. These systems
were employed with varying degrees of success during the Biosphere 2 missions (Silverstone et al., 1995; Marino et al., 1999)
and will be the subject of ongoing research in the Mars Modular Biospheres test-bed facility.

Nutritional research
Nutritional data during the Biosphere 2 closure experiments was based on standard values taken from nutritional almanacs.
More accurate nutritional data could be obtained by analyzing the crops grown in the test-bed facility. This data will help
determine the final composition of the diet.

Conclusion
The development of a soil-based bioregenerative agriculture/horticulture and wastewater system as part of a simulated total
life support system for a four person long term manned Mars mission would provide essential data to be applied to the
construction of a future Mars settlement. The size and scope of the facility would make it a realistic analogue that could be
used to answer vital questions in the areas of continuous production, atmospheric control, total nutrient recycling including
waste management, energy requirements, manpower requirements and provision of a nutritious and palatable diet for the crew.

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