ABSTRACT
The future space program of the United States is linked to the near-term deployment of the Space Transportation System, or Space Shuttle. The Space Shuttle will provide routine access to the space environment at a cost that will be greatly reduced over that of previous booster systems. One of the technologies which will have to be developed to sustain an expanded role for human activity in space is closed-environment life support systems for large space habitats. Controlled-environment agriculture is a food production technology under development and expansion in the United States, Western Europe, the Soviet Union, Japan, and elsewhere. A long-term research and technology development effort must be mounted in order to create flight-ready food production systems for large space habitats. In order to expand the role of humans in space to bring benefits to earth, life support systems for large space habitats must be developed which include controlled-environment agricultural systems to produce food from recycled wastes.
