Humans are embarking on a new era of space exploration with the plan of sending crewed spacecraft to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Extravehicular activities (EVAs) will be an essential part of the scientific activities to be carried out in these missions, and they will involve extensive geological fieldwork. These EVAs entail many challenges as real-time support from ground control cannot be provided to astronauts. Hence, new human–machine interfaces are urgently needed to enhance mission autonomy for astronauts and reduce ground communication dependability for real-time operations. This study introduces an Augmented Reality (AR) Internet of Things tool for astronauts to carry out geological activities. It proposes a theoretically-informed user-centred design method supported by expert feedback and an evaluation method. The tool was assessed via questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with European Space Agency (ESA) astronauts and geological field activities experts. Content analysis of the interviews revealed that user satisfaction was the first most mentioned (32% of 139 quotes) usability aspect. Key design factors identified were: displaying solely important information in the field of view while adjusting it to the user's visual acuity, easy usage, extensibility, and simplicity. User interaction was the second most mentioned (24% of 139 quotes) usability aspect, with voice seen as the most intuitive input. Finally, this research highlights important factors determining the usability and operational feasibility of an AR tool for analogue training missions and provides a foundation for future design iterations and an eventual integration of AR into the spacesuit's visor.

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Transporting materials from Earth to Mars is a significant logistical constraint on mission design. Thus, a sustained settlement will be enhanced if it can perform elemental extraction and utilization in situ. In this study, all requirements to test a novel, biological approach for in situ resource utilization (ISRU) are conceptualized. We present designs for two bioreactor systems to be incorporated in a Mars habitat. The first system is a standard algae bioreactor which produces oxygen and biomass. The second bioreactor is capable of taking in Martian regolith and extracting enhanced iron ores from it via biological processes. Additionally, we propose the use of the leftover iron-poor but biomass rich material in a plant compartment. The multiple, different compartments feed into each other, creating an interconnected process enhancing self-sufficiency. In this paper, computational fluid dynamics of mixing behavior under reduced gravity, a breakdown of the process flow for a biological ISRU approach and exploratory in silico evaluation of the feasibility are presented.

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The logistical supply of terrestrial materials to space is costly and puts limitations on exploration mission scenarios. In-situ resource utilization (ISRU) can alleviate logistical requirements and thus enables sustainable exploration of space. In this paper, a novel approach to ISRU, utilizing microorganisms to extract iron from Lunar or Martian regolith, is presented. Process yields, and kinetics are used to verify the theoretical feasibility of applying four different microorganisms. Based on yields alone, three of the four organisms were not investigated further for use in biological ISRU. For the remaining organism, Shewanella oneidensis, the survivability impact of Martian regolith simulant JSC-MARS1 and Mars-abundant magnesium perchlorate were studied and found to be minimal. The payback time of the infrastructure installation needed for the process with S. oneidensis on Mars was analyzed and the sensitivity to various parameters was investigated. Water recycling efficiency and initial regolith concentration were found to be key to process performance. With a water recycling efficiency of 99.99% and initial regolith concentration of 300 ​g/L, leading to an iron concentration of approximately 44.7 ​g/L, a payback time of 3.3 years was found.

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Bioregenerative life support systems offer the advantage of simultaneously revitalizing air by fixing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, purifying waste water, and generating human edible consumables by e.g. growing plants. The C.R.O.P.® (Combined Regenerative Organic food Production) biofilter system, developed at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine at the German Aerospace Center, is a sustainable concept for the improvement of wastewater in combination with plant cultivation. Two demonstrators incorporating C.R.O.P.® biofilters, a controlled growth environment, and a hydroponic growth method have been built at the European Space Agency under the Spaceship EAC initiative as an example for a bioregenerative life support system, as well as to investigate the operational concept around such a system. The design, execution and analysis of experiments in the demonstrators are presented. Experiments with Micro-Tina tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) proved the functionality of the demonstrators. Environmental conditions such as temperature, humidity and photoperiod inside the growth chamber, as well as pH and electrical conductivity of the water were continuously observed and are found appropriate for plant growth. The addition of synthetic urine to the hydroponic system provides all nutrients required for tomatoes to grow through an entire lifecycle. The plants' total biomass, leaf area index and total number of tomatoes are significantly lower compared to the experiment with fertilizer as additive to the system. Another experiment where lunar regolith simulant is used as growth medium instead of rockwool germinated successfully, but plants are unable to develop flowers and fruits. In addition to the experiments, a simulation model of the C.R.O.P.® demonstrator is developed, partly based on experimental data for the conditions of the controlled environment. In order to predict crop performance, the simulation model implements the existing crop production models Modified Energy Cascade Model. Simulation results and experimental results are compared to validate the final C.R.O.P.® demonstrator model.@en