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Closed Ecological Systems, Space Life Support and Biospherics

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Environmental Biotechnology

Part of the book series: Handbook of Environmental Engineering ((HEE,volume 10))

Abstract

This chapter explores the development of a new type of scientific tool – man-made closed ecological systems. These systems have had a number of applications within the past 50 years. They are unique tools for investigating fundamental processes and interactions of ecosystems. They also hold the potentiality for creating life support systems for space exploration and habitation outside of Earth’s biosphere. Finally, they are an experimental method of working with small “biospheric systems” to gain insight into the functioning of Earth’s biosphere. The chapter reviews the terminology of the field, the history and current work on closed ecological systems, bioregenerative space life support and biospherics in Japan, Europe, Russia, and the United States where they have been most developed. These projects include the Bios experiments in Russia, the Closed Ecological Experiment Facility in Japan, the Biosphere 2 project in Arizona, the MELiSSA program of the European Space Agency as well as fundamental work in the field by NASA and other space agencies. The challenges of achieving full closure, and of recycling air and water and producing high-production crops for such systems are discussed, with examples of different approaches being used to solve these problems. The implications for creating sustainable technologies for our Earth’s environment are also illustrated.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Ecotechnics, London, UK

    Mark Nelson (Chairman)

  2. Krasnoyarsk State University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

    Nickolay S. Pechurkin (Professor)

  3. Gobal Ecotechnics Corporation, Santa Fe, NM, USA

    John P. Allen (Chairman)

  4. Institute of Biophysics SB RAS, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

    Lydia A Somova (Major Researcher)

  5. Institute of Biophysics SB RAS, Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk, Russia

    Josef I. Gitelson (Adviser)

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  1. Mark Nelson
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  2. Nickolay S. Pechurkin
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  4. Lydia A Somova
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  5. Josef I. Gitelson
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  1. Dawn Drive 1, Latham, 12110, USA

    Lawrence K. Wang

  2. School of Civil & Environmental Eng., Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue 50, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Volodymyr Ivanov

  3. School of Civil & Environmental Eng., Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue 50, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Joo-Hwa Tay

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Nelson, M., Pechurkin, N.S., Allen, J.P., Somova, L.A., Gitelson, J.I. (2010). Closed Ecological Systems, Space Life Support and Biospherics. In: Wang, L., Ivanov, V., Tay, JH. (eds) Environmental Biotechnology. Handbook of Environmental Engineering, vol 10. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-140-0_11

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