Systems analysis for the advancement of the MEPA-system for plant cultivation in extraterrestrial habitats and terrestrial emergency situations

Abstract

Technologies developed for spaceflight must function under extreme conditions. Not only do systems and equipment need to be robust, safe, compact, lightweight and easy to use, but they must also function reliably and sometimes autonomously. These special properties also prove useful on Earth, not least for dealing with natural disasters and other extreme situations. The mobile and deployable plant cultivation unit MEPA (Mobile Entfaltbare Pflanzenanbaueinheit) is one of the projects launched by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt DLR) to make space technologies usable for humanitarian aid. In humanitarian crisis situations, supplying food is one of the most crucial tasks undertaken by international aid organisations. However, fresh foods such as fruit or vegetables tend to be either scarce or completely unavailable. A medium-term source of nutrition is often required for the people at the crisis site. The MEPA System is designed for use in areas affected by disasters. It doesn‘t require soil, is reusable, and enables rapid production, with the first harvest after just four to six weeks. In addition, it is easy to use, and can be deployed on a standalone basis. In this thesis, the MEPA system is subject to a system analysis to provide directives, which should be used to specify, build and test the MEPA on site. In order to provide that, system requirements are defined and the elaborated results end in a 3D-CAD model with all functional operations designed.