The Greenhouses project is a project of [[SolSeed]] which is an expression of our desire to contribute to [[theDestiny]]. The Greenhouses will be designed to land on cold worlds in the Solar System and grow and store food for later consumption by astronauts visiting the world.
= Scope =
The project is to [[Bring Life]] to other worlds in a meaningful way with the minimum payload size.
* The project will include the following abilities
** The ability to extract resources needed to grow plants (e.g. CO<sub>2</sub>, NH3, H2O, K&P-compounds)
** The ability to process resources into the forms needed for plants
** The ability to maintain the environment needed for plant growth (Temperature, atmospheric pressure and composition, water chemistry)
** The ability to garden plants (protect from disease, etc...)
** The ability to harvest plants or edible parts of plants
** The ability to preserve harvested plants
* The project may include the following abilities
** The ability to store Oxygen gas produced as a useful bi-product of the plant growth
* The project will not include the following abilities
** The ability to build new greenhouse infrastructure (robotics, pumps, sensors, etc...) in situ
= Phases =
The project will have three major phases:
== Experimental Phase ==
In this phase, the components will be designed and tested and incrementally assembled at our three separate facilities in Ottawa, Portland and Redmond.
== Arctic Test Phase ==
In this phase, a version of the greenhouse will be deployed to the Arctic (or Antarctic) in order to attempt to grow food remotely in a cold environment. Even the coldest places in the Arctic and Antarctic are significantly warmer than most of the worlds in the inner solar system. Carbon dioxide will be available as a gas in the Arctic, rather than a solid as in most worlds in the inner solar system (by inner I mean inside the scattered disk)
== Alien Development Phase ==
In this phase, a version of the greenhouse, capable of surviving on alien worlds, will be developed, tested and launched and sent to other worlds (initially outer main belt asteroids and possibly Mars).
= Resource Flow Chart =
The following table shows the 7 critical resources required for plant growth and summarizes the process for converting them as found in raw form on alien worlds into stored food.
{| border="1"
|-
! colspan=3 | Gather Raw Materials ->
! Prepare and Feed it to PLants ->
! Store Plant Parts for later Astronauts to Eat
|-
! Abr
! Resource
! Sources
! Required Form
! Results
|-
| C
| Carbon
| CO2, CO, C, CH4, HCN
| CO2
| rowspan=3 | C6H12O6 (->Carbohydrates, Lipids, etc)
|-
| H
| Hydrogen
| H2O, CH4, NH3, HCN
| H2O
|-
| O
| Oxygen
| H2O, CO2, CO, metal oxides
| H2O, CO2, O2, NO3(-), PO4(3-)
|-
| N
| Nitrogen
| NH3, HCN
| NO3(-)
| Proteins
|-
| K
| Potassium
| K?
| K+
| K+
|-
| E
| Energy
| sunlight
| Blue and Red parts of spectrum
| holds molecules together as chemical bonds
|-
| P
| Phosphorus
| P?
| PO4(3-)
| DNA, ATP, ADP
|}
== Addtional Considerations ==
* Atmospheric composition
* Atmospheric pressure
* Temperature
* Radiation
* Robotic miners
* Robotic food preservation system
* Robotic gardeners
= Sensors for pc-board integrations: =
* pH https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10972
* dissolved oxygen https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11194
* IR thermometer https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10740
= Optimal growing conditions =
*between 6.5 and 7.5 Ph
* 303.2 K