THE PLAN FOR SUSTAINABLE
SPACE DEVELOPMENT
- establishing an initial infrastructure on the Moon -

Lunar polar ice contains both water and organics including carbon and nitrogen. Additionally, KREEP rocks brought back during the Apollo program contains two other elements needed for plan growth -- phosphorus and potassium. So, plant growth for food and fibers could be an early activity of the InstaBase.

Prototype Lunar Greenhouse

At the University of Arizona - Tucson, the Prototype Greenhouse Project has worked to demonstrate plant growth within a greenhouse. They are developing greenhouses that would provide for all of the caloric and water & air processing needs of a crew on the Moon. The area within the InstaBae dedicated to a greenhouse is based upon this work. The current concept for the InstaBase's GreenHab would be to have vertical racks filling the entire volume of the GreenHab. The racks would have shelves of different height spaces to allow the space needed for different plants. Above each shelf, on the underside of the shelf above would be a panel of magenta LEDs. All walls and racks would be white to reflect any light until it hits a plant. Using this 3D growing approach plus controlling other environmental factors such as lighting, irrigation, nutritients, and CO2 levels, the productivity of the GreenHab would be maximized. Instead of pur hydroponics, we believe that the best approach would be to create granular dirt by crushing washed rocks to the right size. This would allow the roots of the plants to develop a symbiotic relationship with bacterial and fungal elements.

AQUAPONICS
For meat, perhaps one of the best sources would be to grow fish such as tilapia. But what could they eat? It is proposed that vertical curtains containing LEDs and spirulina flowing through bags in the curtain would provide the food necessary for the fish. Although some think that lab-grown meat would be the way to go, that technology is not advanced enough for Earth let alone in space. However, our Agriculture Working Group (AgWG) decided to delay the introduction of fish until after the base grew to at least 100 people due to the maintenance time required.

THE CULINARY ARTS
The InstaBase is designed to provide the volume necessary to feed a crew of eight. Besides reducing the InstaBase's reliance on shipping food from Earth, the harvesting of food and preparing it for meals would provide a nice, daily routine. It would be a complex but fascinating challenge to develop a plan to go from plants to table in a manner and with the right timing so as to provide the nutritional and culinary diversity needed by the crew. Work within an analogue InstaBase could begin to address this challenge. Perhaps a "Lunar Cookbook" could result.