Developing a Food Production System for Long Duration Space Missions
Tuesday, January 21, 2025, at 3 p.m., in Aula 3 of the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna Main Campus, is scheduled the seminar “Developing a Food Production System for Long Duration Space Missions" held by Marta Del Bianco (Agenzia spaziale italiana) and organized by the Biorobotics Institute of Scuola Sant'Anna.
Abstract
Most of human space missions undertaken to date have not exceeded the low Earth orbit (LEO). The prospect of long duration planetary exploration missions implies the technological challenge of providing tools for autonomous management of resources, minimizing the reliance on supplies from Earth. Hence, a critical aspect for human exploration beyond LEO will be the creation of closed ecosystems that ensure in-situ production of food, recovery of water, and regeneration of breathable air. Several organisms can provide one or multiple of these functions: plants, microorganisms, but also insects and animal cells.
Bio
Marta Del Bianco is a Researcher at the Italian Space Agency (ASI), where she conducts basic research in the field of plant response to gravity, bio-regenerative life support systems, and food production. Member of the Organizing Committee of the Space Life Sciences Working Groups of ASI, Marta Del Bianco is the coordinator of the Working Group on Biological Systems for Life Support, and ASI representative at the ISLSWG (International Space Life Sciences Working Group).
More information in the attached poster.