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Advances in Space Research xxx (2008) xxxxxx

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A conceptual conguration of the lunar base bioregenerative

life support system including soil-like substrate for growing plants
H. Liu a, C.Y. Yu a, N.S. Manukovsky b, V.S. Kovalev b,*, Yu L. Gurevich b, J. Wang c
b

a
Beihang University, Department of Environmental Engineering, Beijing 100083, China
Institute of Biophysics of Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian Branch, Laboratory of Ecological Biotechnology,
Academgorodok, 660036 Krasnoyarsk, Russia
c
Beihang University, College of Aeronautics Science and Engineering, Beijing, China

Received 23 August 2006; received in revised form 26 February 2008; accepted 19 March 2008

Abstract
The paper presents a conceptual conguration of the lunar base bioregenerative life support system (LBLSS), including soil-like substrate (SLS) for growing plants. SLS makes it possible to combine the processes of plant growth and the utilization of plant waste. Plants
are to be grown on SLS on the basis of 20 kg of dry SLS mass or 100 kg of wet SLS mass per square meter. The substrate is to be delivered to the base ready-made as part of the plant growth subsystem. Food for the crew was provided by prestored stock 24% and by plant
growing system 76%. Total dry weight of the food is 631 g per day (2800 kcal/day) for one crew member (CM). The list of candidate
plants to be grown under lunar BLSS conditions included 14 species: wheat, rice, soybean, peanuts, sweet pepper, carrots, tomatoes,
coriander, cole, lettuce, radish, squash, onion and garlic. From the prestored stock the crew consumed canned sh, iodinated salt, sugar,
beef sauce and seafood sauce. Our calculations show that to provide one CM with plant food requires the area of 47.5 m2. The balance of
substance is achieved by the removal dehydrated urine 59 g, feces 31 g, food waste 50 g, SLS 134 g, and also waters 86 g from system and
introduction food 236 g, liquid potassium soap 4 g and mineral salts 120 g into system daily. To reduce system setup time the rst plants
could be sowed and germinated to a certain age on the Earth.
2008 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Lunar base; Bioregenerative life support system; Conceptual conguration; Soil-like substrate

1. Introduction
1.1. Bioregengerative technologies for long-term planetary
bases
Present-day exploration and the opening up of space are
specied by gradual transition from long-term orbital ights
to preparation for interplanetary ights and development of
long-term base projects on the surface of Moon and Mars.
New basic structural forms that could be located on the surface of the Moon and scenarios of their delivery and assembly are being developed (Perino, 1991; Benaroya et al., 2002;
Ruess et al., 2006). Inhabitants of long-term bases are
*

Corresponding author. Tel.: +7 3912 494101; fax: +7 3912 433400.

E-mail address: makobios@ipb.ru (V.S. Kovalev).

assumed to be supplied with oxygen, water and food, optimum for humans environmental parameters to be maintained by physicochemical regenerative systems (P/C LSS),
bioregenerative systems (BLSS) or Hybrid LSS (Blum
et al., 1994; Sirko et al., 1994; Gitelson et al., 1995; Lasseur
et al., 1996; Samsonov et al., 1996; Sadeh and Sadeh, 1997;
Drysdale et al., 2003; Silverstone et al., 2003). BLSS is considered to be the most adequate for human requirements
developed in the course of his evolution (Meleshko et al.,
1994). The BLSS basis is provided by a closed ecological biosphere a miniature biosphere. Studies on development of
such a miniature biosphere have been under way in several
centers for several decades (Allen, 1997; Gitelson et al.,
2003; Wheeler et al., 2003; Nitta, 2005).
It should be noted that in terms of sophistication and
ramp-up time and some other criteria BLSS is still consid-

0273-1177/$34.00 2008 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.asr.2008.03.020

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erably inferior to P/C LSS (Eckart, 1999; Sychev et al.,

2003; Czupalla et al., 2005). Comparative analysis of the
known life-support system types shows that higher plants
are justiable for space mission more than 1 year long, provided the matter from the wastes is recycled by physical
chemical method (Bartsev et al., 1997). According to
Schwartzkopfs calculations (1997), bioregenerative technologies for a lunar base would pay for itself in 2.6 years
relative to a physicochemical air/water recycling system
with resupply of food from the Earth. By other data the
hybrid plant-based bioregenerative systems become economically feasible compared to the simple resupply option
after 3 years (Drysdale, 2001). Proceeding from these estimates the bioregenerative technologies can be expected to
be used on planetary bases when there is a risk to lose
the possibility to receive sucient amount of cargo or complete loss of communication with the Earth for 3 and more
years. This risk of loss increases with base personnel.
Therefore, LSS design for long-term lunar settlements with
10100 sta the choice of BLSS is more grounded even
with the possibility of annual delivery of a certain amount
of cargo.
Currently the BLSS conguration for planetary bases
under consideration is the one in which the plant part of
food is produced inside the system, and a part containing
animal proteins and lipids is supplied from prestored stock.
At the same time provisions are made to withdraw from the
system similar mass of wastes equivalent by the element
composition (Wheeler, 2003). So, the more food the crew
consumes from the presorted stock the lower is the closedness of the system and the more wastes have to be stored.
Meanwhile, this makes possible to abandon multi-sate
waste processing technologies within the system, among
them the human feces and urine, to simplify hygienic procedures limiting dissemination of the human microora
over the system. The wastes stored can be later used as a
local resource of biogenic elements to expand BLSS,
e.g., to increase the sawn areas or prepare food for the
animals.

of liquid hydroponic systems there is a danger of infecting

the nutrient solution and plants with phytopathogenic bacteria or fungi and, accordingly the risk of losing a part or
the whole crop (Gonzales et al., 1996; Schuerger, 1998).
Alternative for liquid hydroponic systems are more conventional method of growing plants on soils and soil-like
substrates (Shepelev et al., 1983; Andre et al., 1994; Manukovsky et al., 1997). For a prospective option under consideration is the feasibility of using Moon or Mars soil to
grow plants (Alexander et al., 1989; Silverstone et al.,
2005; Kozyrovska et al., 2006). Plant growing on the moon
soil may be limited by its toxicity due to elevated content of
chrome and nickel (Hossner and Alen, 1989). At the rst
stages of Moon exploration it seems to be more realistic
to use man-made soils to be delivered to the lunar surface
from the Earth in ready-to-use form. Tests of such a manmade soil or SLS for BLSS application were considered
earlier (Tikhomirov et al., 2003a,b). By its basic characteristics SLS is similar to organogenic soils (histosols) and differs by: (1) high fecundity makes possible to have plant
harvest compatible in quality and quantity with crop
grown under similar conditions by hydroponic methods;
(2) high protective properties of SLS biota to introduce
and reproduce of phytopathogenic microorganisms
numerous experiments up to 2 years long had not a single
case of plants disease; (3) regenerative capacity to
recover fecundity and original mass with periodic addition
of appropriate crop residues from the previous harvest and
addition into the irrigation water of inorganic nutrients
making up for withdrawal of mineral elements with edible
part of the crop. These properties considered, SLS can be
regarded as a promising substrate candidate for plant
growth in BLSS conditions.
The aim of the work is to determine the mass ow characteristics for LBLSS, the functional pattern of which
implies application of SLS for plant growth.
2. Basic data for planning LBLSS
2.1. Lunar base BLSS functional layout

1.2. SLS promising substrate-candidate for plant growth in

BLSS conditions
BLSS implementation options may dier in plant cultivation methods and methods of recovery of nutrients from
wastes prior to their storage or withdrawal from the system. Various liquid hydroponic systems have been proposed for plant production in BLSS: aeroponic nutrient
delivery systems, nutrient lm technique (NFT), and substrated hydroponic systems (Bugbee and Salisbury, 1989;
Steinberg et al., 2000; Berkovich et al., 2003; Gitelson
et al., 2003). Liquid hydroponic systems in BLSS regenerate water and air, supply the crew with fresh plant food.
Inorganic nutrients removed with plant biomass are replenished by adding prestored salts to the nutrient solution or
by recovery of nutrients from crop residues (Garland
et al., 1993; Strayer et al., 2002). In long-term operation

By the conguration functional pattern to calculate

LBLSS the plant food was produced within the system
by light energy, and the animal food from prestored stock
(Fig. 1). To make the list of food sources we took into
account experience of other research groups working on
BLSS development, and food preferences and traditions
of Chinese cuisine. The part of food from the prestored
stock (about 2325% in dry weight) was determined by preliminary tests of the ration with participation of Beihang
University students. The daily input of carbon with the
food from stocks exceeded the daily output with urine,
feces and food wastes. To balance the daily input and output of carbon, an additional mass of carbon was removed
from the LBLSS. As a source of additional carbon an SLS
was chosen. Balancing of inputoutput of LBLSS on carbon resulted in increase of daily output of other elements.

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Energy

LBLSS
Inorganic
nutrients

PLANT

Oxygen
Transpiration water
Plant food

SLS

Carbon dioxide
Grey water

Dehydrated
SLS

Food
supply

CREW
WASTES

Dehydrated
Food wastes
Feces
Urine

Fig. 1. LBLSS functional layout.

Their output from the system as part of urine, feces, food

wastes and SLS is made up for the additions of inorganic
nutrients from prestored stock. The stock was presumed
to be replenished no less than once a year. LBLSS design
took into account restrictions and human consumption
rate of food and water; biochemical and element composition of food consumed from prestored stock; the list of candidate plants, conditions of their growth, biochemical and
element composition; recycling methods for SLS and
water.
2.2. Habitability constraints
Basic parameters for LBLSS were dened with account
of the following conditions: Food for the crew is provided
by the stored supplies and the plant growing subsystem.
Energy expenditures 2800 kcal per CM, potable water
consumption 1.9 l, and daily consumption of proteins,
lipids, carbohydrates and ber in compliance with standards and recommendations of Chinese Nutrition Society
(2001). For personal hygiene the crewman uses 25 l of transpiration water and 4 g of liquid potassium soap (stearic
acid potassium salt 2 g and water 2 g).
2.3. Animal originated food and seasoning from prestored
stock
From the stored supplies the crew consumes six food
items. Among them: sardines canned in oil, round scad
canned in oil, beef sauce, seafood sauce. Water content in
these products was 59.9, 38.1, 26.3 and 23.7%, respectively.
Besides that, iodine salt and sugar were used from prestored stock.
2.4. Plant originated food production
The plant part of the diet is provided by 14 plant species:
wheat Triticum aestivum L.; rice Oryza sativa L.; soybean Glycine max (L.) Merr.; peanut Arachis hypogaea;
pepper Capsicum frutescens L. var. longum Bailey; carrot
Daucus carota L. var. sativa; tomato Lycopersicon

escalentum var. cerasiforme; coriander Coriandum sativum L.; cole Brassica chinensis L.; lettuce Lactuca sativa
L. var. Longifolia Lim.; radish Raphanus sativus; squash
Cucurbita moschata Duch.; onion Allium stulosum L.
var. giganteum Makino; garlic Allium sativum L. The edible part of soybean and peanut are turned into other edible
forms. Peanut, specically, is used to produce oil only. The
calculations took into account that about 20 g of oil is
derived from 50 g of peanuts. The soy beans are used to
produce soy milk and sprouts only. To produce 350 ml of
soy milk and 100 g of soybean sprouts is assumed to
require 46 and 12.5 g of soy beans, respectively. To diversify nutrition and as a seasoning to improve the taste of
other courses coriander was added to the crew diet. Only
young coriander leaves with relatively high content of
b-carotene and ascorbic acid are used for food (Singh
et al., 2001). The ration of the crew also involves fruit
bodies of oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus orida Fovose),
which are grown on wheat and rice straw.
2.5. Plant growth media and lighting
Plants are to be grown on the soil-like substrate on the
basis of 20 kg of dry SLS mass or 100 kg of wet SLS mass
per square meter. The possibility to produce and use SLS
to grow plants in BLSS was discussed earlier (Manukovsky
et al., 1996; Gros et al., 2004, 2005). The substrate is to be
delivered to the base ready-made as part of the plant
growth subsystem. Mineral elements carried out of the system as part of urine, feces, food wastes and SLS are to be
compensated by addition into SLS of equivalent amount of
inorganic nutrients from stored supplies. The plants are
grown at photosynthetic photon ux densities of 700
900 lmol m2 s1 PAR (depending on the plant species)
during long photoperiod (24 h) for wheat and short photoperiod (1216 h) for other plant species.
2.6. Waste processing
Inedible part of plants is to be processed in two ways.
Plant wastes with high lignin content wheat and rice
straw are used to grow Pl. orida in non-sterile condition.
For this the straw is grinded and thermally treated by xerothermic method (Heltay, 1991). The spawn to inoculate the
substrate is to be actively growing substrate mycelium from
the previous mushroom growth cycle (Kovalev et al.,
1997). Mushrooms are grown by conventional method
for 6070 days within the temperature range 1927 C.
After harvesting the mushrooms, spent mushroom compost is put under the wheat and rice plants, while the fruit
bodies are used as addition to the food for the crew. The
plants residue with low lignin content after grinding is
added to SLS prior to sowing appropriate plants. Prior
to being removed from the system feces, urine, peanut
cake, okara and SLS are dehydrated by vacuum distillation. The SLS mass to be removed from the system is accu-

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mulated during harvesting and pre-sowing preparation of

the substrate.
2.7. Water recycling
Hygienic and potable water is produced from thermally
pretreated transpiration water. To remove foreign smell
and trace elements from potable water the transpiration
water after boiling was additionally treated by passing
through columns with activated charcoal and ion-exchanging resins, similar to Bios-3 experiments (Gitelson et al.,
2003). Human wastes urine and feces are stored after
dehydration. Household water with high content of surfactants is cleaned in a fed-batch, continuous stirred tank
reactor. This is done by appropriate microorganisms
(Manukovsky et al., 1998). The treated water was returned
to the plant subsystem. The water coming as part of food
from prestored stock was withdrawn from the system as
part of wastes.
2.8. Calculation of LBLSS parameters
Parameters of daily food ration for the LBLSS crew
were calculated in two steps. The rst step was to nd
approximate mass values of 23 consumed food ingredients.
At this, account was taken of: (a) food preferences and traditions of Chinese cuisine, (b) norms and dietary constraints in compliance with recommendations of the
World Health Organization (2003), (c) results of preliminary tests of the ration, (d) cultural requirements of the full
set of candidate crops used as ingredients in menus. The
second step was to optimize the obtained values in compliance with the daily allowances recommended by the Chinese Nutrition Society (2001) for an adult male. To
optimize we used quadratic programming model (Srinivasan et al., 2006). Estimation of optimized consumption levels have been carried out in Excel.
Modeling approaches similar to those Volk and Rummel (1987); Poughon et al. (1999), were used to simulate
protein, carbohydrate, fat, ber, and lignin production in
edible and inedible parts of plants from water, CO2,
HNO3, H2SO4, and H3PO4. Mass balance of system was
calculated with a set of stoichiometric equations (one for
each macro-component of the biomass formed by 6 elements (C,H,O,N,S,P)). E.g., stoichiometrics of biomass
synthesis processes was described in analogy with Tikhomirov et al. (2003a):
aCO2 bH2 O cNH3 dHNO3 eH2 SO4 fH3 PO4
! gC1 Hx Oy Nz Su Pv HO2 ;
where C1HxOyNzSuPv is the formula of the biomass of
plant parts (edible and inedible portions); a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h
stoichiometric coecients. Biomass destruction was
assumed to take place under aerobic conditions only.
A reverse chemical process was considered for the metabolic conversion of protein, carbohydrate, dietary ber,

and fat nutrients in human and simple mass balance equations were used to determine CO2, metabolic water, urine,
feces, and miscellaneous substances (Manukovsky et al.,
2005). Table 1 shows the elemental compositions assumed
for various constituents of the food and waste ows. Flux
values for mineral compounds were also calculated by simple mass balance equations with account of salt removal
with urine, feces, food wastes, SLS and food coming from
prestored stock.
The required amount of each crop was converted into
the cultivation area necessary to produce that amount
using plant cultivation data (Lisovsky and Shilenko,
1979; Gros et al., 2005). To determine the LBLSS mass
ow characteristics the human body mass was assumed
to be constant, as well as the mass of substances daily consumed and released by a human. First, the mass of carbon
coming into the system as part of food from prestored
stock was calculated and the mass of wastes to be daily
removed from the system to balance the system in terms
of carbon was evaluated. After that the mass of oxygen,
hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus and other elements
to be added to the system from presorted stock in the form
of inorganic nutrients was determined to make up for their
loss with the wastes.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Mass ow rates for LBLSS
Six subsystems or modules have been determined within
LBLSS structure. These are the resource, plant growth,
food and water processing, human, waste processing, and
waste storage modules. Plant biomass produced in the
plant growth module and food from the resource module
is delivered to the food processing module, where edible
materials are converted to prepared food. Prepared food
and potable water (3802 g/day), household water
(22687 g/day), and liquid soap (4 g) were delivered into
the human module. In the human module edible food
products were consumed by the crew and metabolized into
Table 1
Chemical composition of the major components of food and waste ows
and SLS
Components

Formula

Protein
Fat
Carbohydrate (starch, dietary ber)
Sucrose
Organic solids of feces
Organic solids of urine
Volatile part of miscellaneous substances
Organic solids of miscellaneous
Stearic acid potassium salt
Cellulose
Hemicelluloses
Lignin
SLS

C100H159O31N25S0.5P0.5
C57H104O6
C6H10O5
C12H22O11
C100H170O61N5S0.1P0.1
C100H331O86N151S0.2
C100H515O17N30S0.1
C100H190O40N16S0.2P0.2
C18H35O2K
C6H10O5
C22H38O19
C33H38O12
C100H170O92N70S0.4P0.6

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CO2, water, urine, feces, and minor amounts of other

wastes (Table 2). The carbon dioxide and volatile part of
miscellaneous substances are sent to the plant growth module. Urine and feces produced by the crew, food wastes and
SLS are dehydrated after transferred to the waste processing module. Dehydrated wastes, including feces 31, urine
59, peanut cake 28, okara 22 and SLS 134 g/day, and water
86 g/day were removed to be stored in the waste storage
module. Prior to being returned to the plant growth module water is treated to remove organic impurities (soap,
organic solids of miscellaneous). Cleaned water
(26439.5 g) with addition of required amount of inorganic
nutrients from prestored stock is used to water plants. General diagram of matter ow in LBLSS is shown in Fig. 2.
3.2. Food provision
For the chosen composition of food ration components
total calculated food mass from the plant growth modules
and stored supplies was 1902 g/day per CM, or converted
into dry mass 631 g/day. Caloricity of calculated ratio
was 2800 kcal/day with daily consumption of carbohydrates 378 g, proteins 100 g, lipids 90 g and food
ber 32 g. The calculated values of the essential amino
acid scores of food proteins exceeded the values recommended
by World Health Organization (WHO, 1985). Most of the
food 76% in dry mass (2000 kcal) is supplied by the plant
growth module, the rest from stored supplies. The plant
part of food covers the base personnel requirements in
protein 66.3%, lipids 45%, carbohydrates 85.3% and

Table 2
Calculated human input and output for one CM
Substances

food ber 100%. From the prestored stock every CM

received 236 g of food, including 84 g of water. Required
average daily values of edible biomass acquired in the plant
growth module presented in Table 3. The sowing area
required for this was 47.5 m2 for one CM (Table 4).
3.3. Balancing of chemical elements in LBLSS
It was calculated that in composition of the organic part
of prestored food and soap 82.4 g carbon, 11.9 g hydrogen,
40.5 g oxygen, 5.3 g nitrogen, 0.24 g sulphur, 0.24 g phosphorus, and 13.42 g inorganic salts (excluding 86 g of water
in the food and soap from the prestored stock) were entered
into LBLSS for one CM everyday. The output of these elements in the composition of urine, feces and food waste is
43.7 g carbon, 7.24 g hydrogen, 36.8 g oxygen 17.7 g nitrogen, 0.2 g sulphur 0.16 g phosphorus and 34.2 g inorganic
salts. One of the ways to equalize the inputoutput of LBLSS
is to coordinate the carbon ow. The accumulation of carbon in LBLSS is 38.7 g/day. To compensate the accumulation of carbon, it is necessary to remove the organic
material containing 38.7 g of carbon from LBLSS. It is possible to use SLS as such material. The required mass of carbon (38.7 g) is contained in 134 g of SLS (dry weight). After
the carbon ow is leveled out, the total imbalance of other
elements was 120 g/day. Among them: hydrogen 0.8 g,
oxygen 43.5 g, nitrogen 15.5 g, sulfur 0.3 g,
phosphorus 0.5 g, inorganic salts 59.4 g. Thus, the mass
of the mineral salts compensating the removal of elements
out of LBLSS as part of urine, feces, food waste and SLS
is equal to 120 g/day per CM.
3.4. Structural design of the lunar base

Mass (g/day)

Input
O2
Potable water
Food
H2O
Organic substances
Minerals

1271
600
31

Total

4639

837
1900

Output
CO2
H2O (respired/perspired)
Urine
H2O
Organic substances
Inorganic salts
Feces
H2O
Organic substances
Inorganic salts
Miscellaneous substances
Organic solids
Inorganic salts
Volatile substances (VMS)

6.2
3.3
2.5

Total

4639

1027
1750
1541
34
25
219
25
6

The LBLSS conceptual design presented in this study

was not to incorporate crew habitats. However, because
the life support system and the structural design of the
lunar base are related, an architecture was developed to
illustrate the layout of individual structural components
with respect to each other on the Moon surface. The basis
of BLSS developed on the lunar surface is the modular
design. The lunar base design is assumed to consist of a
multitude of similar cylindrical modules, and their nal
dimensions are determined by the capacity of a space transporting system. The architecture of the proposed lunar
structure is based on radial geometry. The modules are to
be delivered from the Earth equipped and joined at 24
points, as shown in Fig. 3. The radial layout unites the
inner habitat space by concentric circle passages; being
compact this provides for multivariant movement of the
personnel and materials from one module into an other.
In addition, the radial layout makes possible to expand
the base in dierent (construction convenient) directions,
constructing in a certain distance from the mother structure of analogous lial structures connected between themselves and the mother structure. In this manner with time

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Resource
Soup - 4
Food - 236
Inorganic nutrients - 120

Plant Growth
SLS - 446
O2 - 854
Edible plant biomass - 1306
Transpiration water - 25000

Food & Water

Processing
Food wastes - 53
Prepared food, potable water - 3802
Hygienic water - 22687

Human

2.5 - VMS
1027 - CO2

Feces - 250
Urine - 1600
Grey water - 24450.5

Waste Processing
17 - CO2
26439.5 - Cleaned water

17-O2

Water - 86
Dehydrated SLS, urine, feces and
food wastes - 274

Waste Storage

Fig. 2. System ow diagram for LBLSS model documents resulting mass ows for one crew member. All values are given in g/day. VMS volatile
miscellaneous substances.

the lunar base can transform into a large settlement on the

Moon surface.
3.5. Delivery and start-up of LBLSS subsystems
Traditional delivery and start-up of LBLSS subsystems
takes several months to ramp-up (Koelle, 2000). A way to
increase functional readiness of LBLSS subsystems is to
deliver to the Moon surface modules with plants by staggered planting. For this prior to launching SLS is placed
into respective modules and plants are sawn. When plants
reach a certain growth phase the substrate and plants are
xed for transportation, e.g., during the period of transportation of the pre-sown plant cultivation modules it is
possible to use a net (or nets) to bend and orient the plant
body in a direction parallel to gravity vector. As water

saturation of SLS is 80% at lowered temperature the

plants can be expected to retain viability for several days
without additional watering of the substrate. This makes
possible to move the plant module on the surface of the
Moon in latent mode without human escort. This
transport operation can be seriously impeded by elevated
solar activity, because during solar outbursts the eect of
ionizing radiation can reach levels hazardous for plants
(Schwartzkopf, 1991). Mechanical stress the plants inevitably experience at ascent from Earth or descent to Moon
can also have negative eect on the plants growth in subsequent periods. Jones and Mitchell (1992) noted that
soya plants do not completely recover after mechanical
stress. So far (until direct experiments in space), one can
only assume that short-time exposure to vibration and
acceleration will not considerably and irreversibly damage

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Table 3
Daily food (wet weight) consumption by one CM
Food components

Mass consumed (g/day)

From resource module

Sardines canned in oil
Round scad canned in oil
Beef sauce
Seafood sauce
Sugar
Iodine salt

89
42
35
23
40
7

From plant module

Rice
Wheat
Peanut oil
Soy milk
Soybean sprouts
Cole
Tomato
Coriander
Pepper
Squash
Pumpkin seeds
Garlic
Radish
Carrot
Lettuce
Onion
Oyster mushrooms

214
200
20
350
100
150
120
80
90
65
7
10
50
40
15
5
150

Total

1902

Table 4
Area required to provide plant part of food for one CM
Plants

Required cultivation area (m2)

Rice
Wheat
Peanut
Soybean
Cole
Tomato
Coriander
Pepper
Squash
Garlic
Radish
Carrot
Lettuce
Onion

15.8
11.3
8.7
4.4
2.0
1.7
1.2
0.9
0.5
0.3
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.1

Total

47.5

the xed sowing. Indirectly this is indicated by experiments of Takakura et al. (1996), Tani et al. (1996), performed on lettuce, radish, onion and rice plants. They
demonstrated that the that plant seeds can germinate
and grow both at high vibration and at increased gravity
up to 48 g or even under articial gravity which changed
sinusoidally from 2 to 4 g. When delivered to the Moon
the module can be joined to other modules and power
source can make it operational in several hours. Implementation of this delivery method can sharply reduce
the setup time of the system.

Fig. 3. Lunar base architecture.

4. Conclusion
Thus, the LBLSS conguration considered diers
mainly in SLS used to grow plants and to utilize the inedible part of plants in lunar base conditions. Application of
SLS and relatively simple procedure for treatment and
removal of human wastes increases feasibility of the
LBLSS conguration chosen. In addition, SLS also admits
the possibility in principle to deliver to the lunar surface
modules with plants sown and grown to a certain age on
the Earth. Implementation of this possibility can considerably reduce the systems processing time in lunar base conditions. Calculations show that the wet SLS mass required
per crew member is 4750 kg or about 48 tons for a 10-people crew. Additionally for every CM it is necessary to deliver to the extraterrestrial base about 87 kg of food
containing animal proteins and lipids besides 44 kg of salts
and 1.5 kg of liquid potassium soap every year. Therefore,
the annual supply requirement to the base manned with 10
persons is about 1.3 tons of stock for the LBLSS. Similar
mass of wastes is to be stored in the waste storage module.
Assuming the area for plants in one Plant growth module
can be up to 24 m2, to provide food for one CM requires
2 such modules. On the whole to deploy on the lunar surface BLSS with a 10-person crew will required 28 modules:
20 modules to grow plants, 5 modules for the crew on the
basis of placing two crew members in one module, 1 module for food storage and reactants, 1 module to process
liquid and solid wastes and 1 module to store wastes. With
regular replenishment of stocks the expected operational
life time of the proposed lunar base is to be not less than
2025 years. In conclusion we should also note that the
presented design should not yet be considered optimal,
but is intended to serve as a reference baseline.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported in part by Siberian Branch of
Russian Academy of Sciences under the integration project
No. 24 The role of microorganisms in living systems.

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