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Scaling to sustainable numbers though heat rejection will be a serious consideration. Plants essentially convert light to chemical energy that would then sustai
by flogic 13y ago
Scaling to sustainable numbers though heat rejection will be a serious consideration. Plants essentially convert light to chemical energy that would then sustain the astronauts. The catch is plants aren't really that efficient. They're around 1% if I remember rightly. That means there would be 99 people worth of additional heat for each one you're feeding full time.
- moocowduckquack 13y agoTrying to argue on the basis of photosynthesis being inefficient doesn't really help, I mean sure PV is more efficient in energy conversion, but you can't eat electricity. So given they'd be eating plants anyway, eating ones that have not been shot up the gravity well is probably more efficient.
- flogic 13y agoMy point was that for the current ISS, you're talking about designing, building, launching, and attaching more infrastructure.