Arizona State University’s Interplanetary Initiative, the same that supported the launch of SIMOC in 2017-18, is featuring SIMOC is a new interactive, educational “BIG IDEAS” question “How will the first humans on Mars work together to survive?”
Enjoy the three featured segments, “How can we sustain healthy communities on Mars?”, “Why we can’t stop dreaming about the Red Planet”, and “Can your students build a model for off-planet survival?”
Figure: Proposed ECLSS concept for DIANA, adapted for simulation in SIMOC.
Microalgae and Photobioreactors for SIMOC
by Lucien Volk, Masters student candidate
Technical University at Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany
Future space exploration missions aim to venture to the Moon, Mars and beyond. It is the current consensus in the ECLSS community, that these long durations missions will require hybrid and biological life support systems for these missions to be realistically feasible. Microalgae grown in photobioreactors seems to be a promising component part of these necessary life support system architectures since they can absorb the CO2 human’s breath out while producing the vital O2. Additionally, they can potentially provide several other services such as food production and wastewater treatment. The goal of the research performed at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) was to implement a microalgae photobioreactor in SIMOC to enhance its capabilities and study the impact of photobioreactors on a life support system architecture.
The photobioreactor implemented was based on the research work performed under the “PBR@LSR” project at the University of Stuttgart [1]. SIMOC was able to reproduce the gas characteristics observed in the experiment. With regards to food production, the research at TUM concluded that a microalgae photobioreactor operated in a semi-continuous mode (algae is grown continuously and only partially harvested) is likely to produce more biomass than a photobioreactor operated in batch mode (algae is fully harvested every cycle). However, required photobioreactor volume heavily depends on whether CO2 is absorbed, O2 produced, or food provided and can be up to 500L per person. Therefore, a microalgae photobioreactor is often geared towards a specific task.
Finally, the microalgae photobioreactor was implemented as part of a proposed Moon base, specifically the base concept “DIANA” of Astraeus e.V. [2]. Here, SIMOC revealed that a photobioreactor could contribute to a stable ECLSS system providing 30g/d of food per crewmember, producing parts of the necessary O2 and processing parts of the CO2. While it was shown that microalgae photobioreactors could be implemented in SIMOC, several improvements must be made to said model to be more precise and usable before it can become an official component in SIMOC.
The research work performed with regards to microalgae photobioreactors and SIMOC will be presented as a poster at ICES 2025, pending approval of the abstract.
Sources
[1] H. Helisch et al., “High density long-term cultivation of Chlorella vulgaris SAG 211-12 in a novel microgravity-capable membrane raceway photobioreactor for future bioregenerative life support in SPACE,” Life Science in Space Research, pp. 91–107, 2019, ISSN: 2214-5524. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lssr.2019.08.001.
[2] D. Acker et al., “DIANA-Dedicated Infrastructure and Architecture for Near-Earth Astronautics,” 51st International Conference on Environmental Systems, 2022.
by Meridith Greythorne and Kai Staats
for the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)
Abstract
The Scalable, Interactive Model of an Off-World Community (SIMOC) is a computer simulation of a human habitat on Mars. Built upon decades of NASA research and authentic science processes, SIMOC is both a research-grade simulation and an engaging web-based tool for science education. Users access an intuitive web interface to select mission duration, inhabitants and life support modules, crew quarters and greenhouse sizes, food rations and cultivar seeds, and energy production and storage systems.
SIMOC engages citizen scientists and learners of all ages in the design of long-duration other-world habitats (with an emphasis on Mars), where the balance between mechanical and plant-based life support will be crucial. For the past three years, SIMOC has enjoyed expanding engagement in virtual and physical classrooms, available for free via the National Geographic Education resource library or local installation.
Using a Next Generation Science Standards-aligned curriculum, educators have explored creative applications of SIMOC, from single class time simulations to Mars habitats built from cardboard boxes with live carbon dioxide sensors; from essays on the challenges of human space exploration to full semester design and fabrication of habitats complete with student-built mock-ups in miniature.
Do you have what it takes to live on Mars?
The Arizona Science Center in downtown Phoenix, Arizona proudly welcomes SIMOC to the My Digital World, Level 3 exhibit floor.
The exhibit, which opened mid November 2024 enables guests to test a Mars habitat of their own design. Guests are tasked with configuring essential components for survival, including carefully calculated food rations, efficient life support systems, reliable solar panels and batteries, and comfortable crew quarters. They must also design a greenhouse with thoughtfully selected plant varieties to purify the air and produce sustenance. Once these elements are set, guests activate the simulation model to assess whether their astronauts can thrive—or if critical adjustments are still needed to secure their survival.
This summer is seeing many exciting updates for SIMOC, with an in depth story for each coming soon!
Again, each of the above will be expanded into individual photo essays … stay tuned!
The new SIMOC Live version 2.0 now incorporates an ad hoc, mesh network, with full data redundancy across all nodes. Sensor arrays built on a Raspberry Pi Zero and Adafruit sensors captured data in each of the four primary nodes of SAM: lung, Test Module, Engineering Bay, and Crew Quarters.
More photos, data, and a complete story coming soon!
For now, visit samb2.space/blog …
Lead developer of SIMOC Ezio Melotti arrive to SAM at Biosphere 2 mid February. He receive Christopher Murtagh, Systems Architect and colleague of Kai Staats for more than twenty years. Together they built the point-to-point wireless feed from the SAM Operations Center to the Mars yard and into the SAM habitat analog. Chris built a new version of the SAM light-travel time delayed email server while Ezio continued to fine tune the form and function of the latest build of SIMOC Live and its sensor array.
Chris departed and Franco Carbognani arrived, a Sr. Engineer at the VIRGO gravitational wave observatory to work with Ezio on the SIMOC Live ad hoc, full mesh sensor array. This is a vast improvement on the version installed in SAM for the first two crew in that a unique sensor array will now be placed in the SAM lung, Test Module (green house), engineering bay, and crew quarters for a 4x increase in data generation and fidelity in air quality analysis.
To learn more, visit SAM …
The Biosphere 2 K-12 app provides an accessible guide for students and their teachers to explore this advanced scientific research facility, the worlds largest closed system with everything needed to support human life. By the end of your experience, you’ll be prepared to design and build your own biosphere using a computer model using the SIMOC application which includes a comprehensive model of original 1991-93 and 1994 sealed experiments with 8 and 7 crew members, respectively.
As we move into 2024 we simultaneously look forward to our ongoing work in this current development cycle, and what we accomplished in the prior years. As with any open source computer software project, the team continues to shift and reform with some steady, stable members and others who contributed as they were able and then move on.
This brings us into our seventh year of SIMOC development! I first conceived of the project as my Masters research in 2014 but did not actually dive in for three years until attending the International Space University SSP in Cork Ireland simultaneous to two years funding from Arizona State University. This team has enjoyed additional support at the University of Arizona, Biosphere2, and now four years support by the National Geographic Society. We have taken SIMOC into directions I could not have envisioned in 2017 and surely, a few years from now, I will say something similar.
As a project lead my greatest joy is when SIMOC takes on a form and function motivated by one of my team members, and a velocity far greater than I could do on my own. Yet, I am never truly satisfied. My vision and that of my team members is always greater than what are engaging at any given moment. That’s what drives us forward.
As we look to 2024 we see an opportunity to slow down a bit in the actual writing of code and focus more on the quality of our website content, educational material, and guides for developers who will take SIMOC in even directions our own team did not consider.
While this blog may sometimes be left to ponder on its own for several weeks, even a few months at a time, our development team remains engaged with two meetings each week, more than 800 meetings to date.
Do you have talent in Python programming? Do you enjoy creative writing and web content generation? Want to help bring SIMOC into classrooms around the world? We’d love to hear from you …
Space Analog for the Moon and Mars
by Aaron Bugaj
In this episode we are joined by Kai Staats. Kai is a veteran developer, designer, filmmaker, and scientist. Kai is the Director of SAM, Space Analog for the Moon and Mars, here at Biosphere 2. SAM is a hi-fidelity, hermetically sealed Mars habitat analog with greenhouse, living quarters, airlock, pressure suits, and a half acre Mars yard. Since 2021 Kai and his team have been constructing SAM, and just last month, SAM hosted it’s first two sealed missions, Inclusion 1 and Inclusion 2.
In this podcast, Kai takes us on his journey to build SAM. Breaking down the inspiration for SAM’s creation, and the research goals for SAM’s future.
Listen to the full interview via Spotify or Apple Podcast