Bioregenerative Life Support
Life support that uses living systems — plants and microbes — to recycle air, water, and waste and to grow food, moving toward the closed ecosystems that long missions far from Earth will need.
Highlights
- ›From ISS plant experiments toward closed ecosystems for Mars
In brief
Life support that recycles resources with living systems.
In this discipline
- Closed-Loop Life SupportLife-support technology
The goal of a fully regenerative life-support system, in which plants and microbes recycle essentially all of the air, water, and waste — the closed ecosystem that a self-sufficient Mars base would require. Ground experiments such as BIOS-3 and MELiSSA have pursued it.
- Space AgricultureLife-support technology
Growing plants in space — for fresh food, for recycling air and water, and for crew morale. Experiments aboard the ISS have grown and eaten space-grown crops, a step toward the farms that Moon and Mars crews will need.
- Space Food SystemLife-support technology
The engineered system that feeds a crew — shelf-stable, nutritious food packaged for weightlessness, planned to sustain health and morale over long missions where resupply is limited or impossible.
Knowledge connections
- Group includesSpace Food System
- Group includesSpace Agriculture
- Group includesClosed-Loop Life Support
- Associated withLong-Duration Life Support
Sources
The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.
- NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.
Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.