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Harnessing Plant Nitrogen Uptake and Plasma for Sustainable pH Control in Space Crop Production Systems
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Description
Pursue two parallel methods that 1. adequately control pH with comparable performance to state-of-the-art (SOTA) methods, 2. provide pH control without the need for consumable acids and bases, and 3. show potential to utilize nitrogen sourced from waste streams and/or generated in-situ. These two methods are A. Controlling Plant Nitrogen Uptake and B. Utilizing plasma activated water as a nitrogen and acid source
Benefits
A pH control system that does not rely on resupply and which can be integrated into future Biological Life Support Systems (BLiSS) would buy down crew safety risk and improve the sustainability of future space crop production systems.
Details
| Technology area | Exploration Destination Systems > In Situ Resource Use > Resource Processing for Production of Mission Consumables |
| Program | Center Innovation Fund: KSC CIF (KSC CIF) |
| Lead organization | Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, FL |
| Start date | 2025-10-01 |
| End date | 2026-09-30 |
Project contacts
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How to get involved
This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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