title: Controlled Ecological Life Support Systems (CELSS) flight experimentation.
abstract: The NASA CELSS program has the goal of developing life support systems for humans in space based on the use of higher plants. The program has supported research at universities with a primary  focus of increasing the productivity of candidate crop plants.  To understand the effects of the space environment on plant productivity, the CELSS Test Facility (CTF) has been been conceived as an instrument that will permit the evaluation of plant productivity on Space Station Freedom.  The CTF will maintain specific environmental conditions and collect data on gas exchange rates and biomass accumulation over the growth period of several crop plants grown sequentially from seed to harvest. The science requirements of the CTF will be described, as will current design concepts and specific technology requirements for operation in micro-gravity.
authors.affiliation: Advanced Life Support Division, GE Government Services, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kliss
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: MacElroy
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Borchers
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farrance
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blackwell
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yendler
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tremor
mesh_terms: D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000254:growth & development*; D003470:Culture Media; D018504:Ecological Systems, Closed; D001330:Electronic Data Processing; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control; D004867:Equipment Design; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D018525:Germination; D008021:Life Support Systems / Q000295:instrumentation*; D008029:Lighting; D013026:Space Flight; D018531:Spacecraft / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018511:Systems Integration; D014481:United States; D018557:United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration; D014881:Water Supply; D014893:Weightlessness
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media