Azolla as a component of the space diet during habitation on Mars.(Report).

We evaluate a candidate diet and specify its space agricultural requirements for habitation on Mars. Rice, soybean, sweet potato and a green-yellow vegetable have been selected as the basic vegetarian menu. The addition of silkworm pupa, loach, and Azolla to that basic menu was found to meet human nutritional requirements. Co-culture of rice, Azolla, and loach is proposed for developing bio-regenerative life support capability with high efficiency of the usage of habitation and agriculture area. Agriculture designed under the severe constraints of limited materials resources in space would make a positive contribution toward solving the food shortages and environmental problems facing humans on Earth, and may provide an effective sustainable solution for our civilization.

Author Affiliation:

(a) Nagoya Women's University, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya 467-8610, Japan

(b) Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA, Sagamihara 229-8510, Japan

(c) Okayama University, Tsushimanaka, Okayama 700-8530, Japan

(d) National Azolla Research Center, Fujian 350003, China

(e) Space Agriculture Task Force, Japan

Article History:

Received 28 June 2007; Revised 18 January 2008; Accepted 18 January 2008

Source Citation:Katayama, Naomi, Masamichi Yamashita, Yoshiro Kishida, Chung-Chu Liu, Iwao Watanabe, and Hidenori Wada. "Azolla as a component of the space diet during habitation on Mars.(Report)." Acta Astronautica 63.7-10 (Oct 2008): 1093(7). Academic OneFile. Gale. Alachua County Library District. 5 Sept. 2009
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