How To Survive Off Earth

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Video: How To Survive Off Earth

Video: How To Survive Off Earth
Video: How to Survive as the Last Person on Earth 2024, March
How To Survive Off Earth
How To Survive Off Earth
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How to survive outside the Earth - biosphere, colonization
How to survive outside the Earth - biosphere, colonization

When, finally, will our traces remain on the dusty paths of distant planets? Humanity is persistently preparing an answer to this question, conducting large-scale research and creating technologies for the development of other worlds.

The words of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, said more than a century ago, "Humanity will not remain forever on Earth …" are actually just beginning to come true. So far, a person has been able to move away from his home planet only to the distance of the lunar orbit, but even in lower orbits, modern technologies cannot provide a fully autonomous manned flight lasting more than 3-4 months: after this time, the crew of the spacecraft will definitely need consumables delivered from the Earth.

It is still not possible to organize adequate nutrition, water supply, a constant supply of oxygen and effective utilization of waste products in isolation from the earth's biosphere.

At this stage, the answer to the question "How to survive in deep space?" sounds like this: "take with you" a certain minimum necessary part of this biosphere, "forcing" it to function in conditions of low gravity, small confined spaces and an excess of high-energy radiation.

Unfortunately, all attempts to implement such a closed cycle, even in milder "ground" conditions, cannot be called successful. The most famous of these is undoubtedly the American project "Biosphere-2", carried out by Space Biosphere Ventures (mainly funded by billionaire Edward Bass).

The fate of "Biosphere"

In the summer of 1991, in a desert area near the town of Oracle (Arizona), the construction of a large-scale structure was completed, which included a huge glass-metal structure, which covered an area of 1.27 hectares.

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Together with auxiliary buildings, it was a sealed system with a volume of 203,760 m3. A range of biomes have been modeled in this volume: rainforest, savanna, Mediterranean stiff bush, desert, freshwater and salty (mangrove) swamp, and even a mini-ocean with living coral reefs.

MARS-500

In preparation for a manned flight to Mars, Russian specialists launched a large-scale experiment "Mars-500". The main goal of the project is to study the peculiarities of the coexistence of six people in an isolated room for a long time in conditions of limited communication with the Earth. The Mars-500 complex was not a biologically closed system; the task of investigating the possibility of self-sufficiency of the crew was not posed for a long time. The experiment lasted 519 days - from June 3, 2010 to November 4, 2011.

True, their relative "representation" was very different from the real one - in particular, the ocean made up less than a third of the "Biosphere", while on Earth water spaces occupy 71% of the surface. All this biodiversity has been "populated" with almost four thousand species of animals, plants and microorganisms.

Their species composition was selected in such a way as to best simulate the biospheric circulation of substances, including the production and decomposition of organic matter (including the natural decomposition of human waste). The giant compressors adjusted the internal pressure to match the external pressure, minimizing air leaks.

On September 26, 1991, eight people - four men and four women - became part of the artificial biosphere. They were to spend exactly two years in complete isolation from the outside world (having, however, the opportunity to communicate with him on the phone). As food they had to use other inhabitants of "Biosphere-2" - fish, shrimps, goats, chickens and pigs, as well as vegetables and fruits grown in specially designated areas.

It was assumed that the complex would function autonomously, since it had all the conditions for the normal circulation of substances. Sunlight, according to scientists, should have been enough for the reproduction of oxygen by plants as a result of photosynthesis, worms and microorganisms provided waste processing, insects - pollination of plants, etc. The circulation and purification of water was carried out thanks to the operation of blinds that regulate the solar lighting, which caused convection currents of warm air, which contributed to evaporation from the surface of the "ocean".

Condensing, moisture dropped out in the form of rain over the "tropical forest". From there, it seeped into the "swamps" and again entered the "ocean" through soil filters. In the process of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide released during respiration was absorbed and, in theory, the required oxygen content in the air should have been maintained. However, both the direct participants in the experiment and its leaders "from outside" could interfere to a certain extent in the operation of life support systems.

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All waste products were decomposed by biological methods, providing nutrition for plants, some of which, in turn, served as food for people, fish and domestic animals. The use of toxic chemicals (insecticides and pesticides) was completely excluded. Pest control was carried out by "natural" methods - they were collected and destroyed by hand or bred their natural enemies.

The use of energy sources polluting the environment, such as open flames, was also not allowed. Solar panels provided energy for cooking, lighting and powering the equipment.

It seemed that everything was taken into account and an ideal world was built … however, the problems did not take long to appear. "Biosphere-2" turned out to be overpopulated. People did not have enough high-calorie food - they had to plant some bananas and papaya in the "jungle", compact the planting of cereals without increasing the area and introduce food distribution.

Over the "desert" on the glass roof in the morning, water condensed and rain fell. It was impossible to eliminate it, so the desert gradually "turned" into a steppe. A few months later, the crowns of many trees began to break under their own weight: it turned out that for the normal formation of wood, such a seemingly insignificant factor as wind is extremely necessary.

Ukrainian vegetable garden in orbit

The first cosmonaut of independent Ukraine, Leonid Kadenyuk, was engaged in research in the field of space biology during his flight on the Columbia shuttle. These included, in particular, experiments on artificial pollination of soybean and rapeseed sprouts in order to obtain seeds in zero gravity. These studies had a practical purpose: the crews of interplanetary spacecraft flying to distant planets will definitely need "space gardens" that will provide astronauts with food and oxygen.

A rapid, uncontrolled reproduction of insects and microorganisms, actively absorbing oxygen, began very quickly. Its content in the air dropped to 14% (at the norm of 21%) - this corresponds to the partial pressure at an altitude of 4080 m above sea level. As a result, the state of health of the inhabitants of "Biosphere-2" has worsened, and their ability to work has noticeably fallen. One of the women cut off her finger while working on agricultural equipment. It was not possible to sew it on on our own, and the victim had to be evacuated "to the big world."

Later, the "purity of the experiment" was completely violated: due to the excessively activated climatic phenomenon "El Niño", the sky over Arizona was covered with clouds much more often than expected, and there was not enough sunlight to reproduce oxygen during photosynthesis.

To avoid serious consequences, Edward Base decided to start pumping this gas under the dome from the outside. In total, more than 20 tons of it had to be pumped. Meanwhile, the "experimental", in addition to their main occupations, strenuously exterminated excessively proliferated cockroaches and ants (mainly they simply pressed - they could not find these insects among the inhabitants of the "Biosphere").

Quite quickly, the team split into two opposing groups, one of which demanded an immediate termination of the experiment, and the second insisted that it was necessary to "hold on to the end." Since the desire to "hold out" was shared by the project management, both groups were forced to coexist under one roof until September 26, 1993, when seven emaciated and exhausted inhabitants of the "earthly paradise" finally left it. But even 20 years later, representatives of different groups diligently avoid meetings and any other communication.

Scientists did not want to abandon the unique complex, therefore, already at the end of 1993, its restoration began: in two years of experiment, the design of "Biosphere-2" and many of its systems were seriously worn out. On March 6, 1994, the dome received seven new "residents", including one woman. Taking into account the experience of their predecessors, five of them were able to spend six months in a closed system - until September 6 (although a ten-month experiment was originally announced) - and managed to organize self-sufficiency in food, but the problems with the uncontrolled reproduction of microbes and insects could not be solved.

On April 5, 1994, Abigail Elling and Mark Van Thillo - two participants in the first experiment - managed to open one airlock and three emergency exit doors, breaking the tightness of the complex for a quarter of an hour. They also smashed five glass roof panels. Elling explained her act by the fact that she wanted to give the people inside the choice between freedom and "imprisonment."

On June 1, 1994, Space Biospheres Ventures officially ceased to exist, transferring all business (including the second experiment) to a temporary management team hired by Decisions Investment Co.

In mid-1996, after the management of the "Biosphere" was transferred to Columbia University (New York City), scientists launched a new experiment in it, this time without the participation of people. They were going to find out whether the yield really increases with an increase in the percentage of carbon dioxide (and to what extent), what happens to excess carbon dioxide and where it accumulates, and also whether a catastrophic reverse process is possible with an uncontrolled increase in the content of CO2 in the atmosphere. It was not possible to get clear answers to any of these questions.

For a long time, the scientific complex was used for student practice, and in 2005 it was put up for sale. The buyer was found only in the summer of 2007. It was Ranching & Development, which intended to build a hotel and educational complex nearby, and Biosphere-2 itself was to become a publicly accessible tourist attraction. On July 26, 2007, the unique laboratory was transferred to the disposal of the University of Arizona.

… On one of the inner walls of the "Biosphere" there are still several lines written by one of the participants of the first mission: "Only here we felt how dependent on the surrounding nature. If there are no trees, we will have nothing to breathe; if the water is polluted, we will have nothing to drink. " This hard-won wisdom is perhaps the most important outcome of an ambitious experiment.

BIOS project

Research into the possibility of creating stable biophysical systems of continuous biosynthesis began shortly after the first manned space flights. One of the most interesting and successful works in this direction was the BIOS project, which was launched by employees of the Krasnoyarsk Institute of Biophysics (USSR, now the Russian Federation). There, life support systems were developed for human stay in space, in extreme conditions of polar latitudes, deserts, highlands, under water.

In 1964, in the BIOS-1 system, a two-link human-chlorella life support system, closed in terms of gas exchange, was implemented. Algae absorbed carbon dioxide and produced oxygen, but they could not be used for food.

In the BIOS-2 complex, which began to be created in 1965, in addition to algae, higher plants were involved - wheat, vegetables. In 1968, the first experiments were carried out in the three-link system "man - microalgae - higher plants". Reached 85% water reuse. On the basis of these experiments, BIOS-3 was created - a closed ecological human life support system with autonomous control.

Scheme of gas and water exchange in the experimental complex "Bios-3". Gas paths are shown with orange lines, water - black. The blue arrows show the direction of travel. Letters indicate: B - chlorella algae cultivators, G - gas blower, U - charcoal filter, C - waste water collectors in the kitchen and toilet, Q - moisture condensate collection collector in the phytotron, D - tank for boiling and storing household water, M - collector urine, F - unit for sorption post-treatment of drinking water.

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The construction of the BIOS-3 complex was completed in 1972. In the basement of the Institute of Biophysics in the Krasnoyarsk Academgorodok, a sealed room with dimensions of 14x9x2.5 m and a volume of about 315 m3 was built. It was divided into 4 equal compartments, two of which were occupied by phytotrons for growing plants, one by microalgal cultivators, and the last one was a living block with crew cabins, household and auxiliary equipment. The compartments were connected by sealed doors.

On the basis of BIOS-Z, 10 experiments were carried out with crews of one to three people. The longest of them lasted 180 days (1972-1973). It was possible to achieve a complete "closure" of the system for gas and water, the crew's needs for food were satisfied by 80% at the expense of internal resources. The engineer Nikolai Bugreev lived in the complex for the longest time (13 months in total).

In greenhouses under artificial lighting, special varieties of wheat, soybeans, lettuce, chufa (Central Asian oilseed crop), carrots, radishes, beets, potatoes, cucumbers, sorrel, cabbage, dill and onions were grown. Dwarf wheat, bred by Professor G. M. Lisovsky, has shortened stems, which made it possible to reduce the amount of waste. Canned food with animal products was also used for food.

At the end of the 80s, experiments in BIOS-Z were temporarily stopped.

In 1991, the International Center for Closed Ecological Systems was established under the leadership of Academician I. I. Gitelzon, which became a structural subdivision of the Krasnoyarsk Institute of Biophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The purpose of his research is to create prototypes and working models of closed ecosystems for long-term human life support in extreme terrestrial and space conditions on the basis of studying the processes of the circulation of substances in the Earth's biosphere.

The development of a new biosystem model began in Krasnoyarsk in 2005 with the support of the European Space Agency. At the moment, within the framework of this project, research is being carried out in the field of waste recycling and plant cultivation in closed ecosystems.

NASA designs biosystems

NASA specialists, of course, could not stay away from the development of closed biosystems, which could later be used to support the crews of space stations and interplanetary spacecraft. Their achievements in this area are much smaller, but they have tangible commercial success.

This is a biological module called Ecosphere, which is a sealed glass ball-aquarium with a diameter of 10-20 cm, filled with seawater with a small air bubble and "populated" with several Halocaridina rubra shrimps, pieces of coral, green algae, and bacteria that break down food vital functions of shrimp. At the bottom of the aquarium, more for aesthetic reasons, some sand and shells are poured.

According to the assurances of the manufacturers, this whole world was supposed to be absolutely autonomous for an unlimited time - it needed only sunlight and maintaining a more or less constant temperature. The shrimp multiplied and died, however, without going beyond the amount that the available resources could "feed". Ecosphere immediately became incredibly popular.

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True, it soon became clear that its "eternity" was only 2-3 years, after which the biological balance inside the aquarium was disturbed and its inhabitants died. Nonetheless, hermetic aquariums are still popular - after all, every civilization has its own "shelf life", and even two years by the standards of a shrimp is actually not that bad.

"Space anthill" on your table

Ants are amazing creatures. They are found in almost all natural zones (except for arctic deserts). Their ancient ancestors, little different from the modern representatives of this family, lived on Earth over 100 million years ago, as evidenced by their remains found in petrified silt. It is very likely that even then they had the skills of a "collective community" and were subdivided into "castes" - worker ants, warriors, hunters, etc.

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There are over 12.5 thousand classified species of ants alone. The total number of these insects on Earth can reach a quadrillion (one million billion, or 1015). With an average mass of one specimen of about 3 mg, their total biomass turns out to be only an order of magnitude less than the biomass of mankind, while there are about hundreds of thousands of ants per person. It is obvious that such a large family of living things is one of the most important elements of the biosphere. Therefore, myrmecologists (myrmecology is a branch of entomology that studies ants) are actively involved in most studies on the creation of closed ecosystems.

The main part of ants' life takes place in underground or other hard-to-reach shelters, where it is extremely difficult to observe them. Scientists have spent a lot of effort to solve this problem. The simplest version of the "ant observatory" can be considered an artificial anthill of two transparent glass (plastic) panels and sand filler between them. Observations are made in low light or infrared rays.

Since the sand is opaque, in such an anthill you can only see the tunnels directly adjacent to the glass wall. In addition, this structure is very poorly transportable - even with a slight shake-up, the passages lined up by ants crumble and collapse. Therefore, to experiment with them on Space Shuttle spaceships, NASA employees had to design a habitat in which ants could live and build tunnels that could withstand the effects of sudden changes in gravity.

Concept for the Mars One project

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For this, a special jelly-like filler was developed, suitable for ants to live in it and build tunnels. He also serves as a source of food for them. This technology was used to build the Antquarium "desktop anthill", which provides all lovers of wildlife with a rare opportunity to observe the fascinating life of these insects.

The Antquarium is not a closed ecosystem, but the supply of water and nutrients (other than air) there is limited. The likelihood of pathogenic bacteria and ant parasites entering there is also minimized. Therefore, a "transparent anthill" can support the life of its inhabitants for quite a long time - subject to observing the light and temperature conditions specified in the instructions.

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