Highlights 2018 - Yearly status report EDEN Initiative

Kurzfassung

With 60 days of deployment work, 257 days of isolation, more than 20 experiments, more than 15 system- and procedure tests – the EDEN ISS analogue mission clearly served as the main event during the year 2018. Starting with the sea ice offloading procedure of the Mobile Test Facility at the Atka bay of the Ekström ice shelf (Antarctica), the long-planned mission could finally start on January 3rd, 2018. Throughout the isolation phase, Paul Zabel produced over 275 kg of fresh food for the isolated Neumayer Station III crew and worked himself through a demanding and multifaceted science program. Useful data was generated and the lessons-learnt will further push the knowledge base on how to build and operate future greenhouse systems on Moon and Mars. As AWI and DLR agreed to further operate the Mobile Test Facility even after the H2020 project will come to an end, 2018 marks only the initial year of the group’s analogue testing at the Neumayer Station III. With the analogue mission running, 2018 marked an exceptional year for communicating the group’s scientific and technological objectives to the public. This was done through the successful organization of press conferences, exhibits, TV documentaries, radio interviews, and countless articles in print- and online media. The dedicated exhibition ‘Plants in Space’ also took shape, as the EDEN group in collaboration with its partners (Bock Bioscience, Botanika) defined, built and tested the main exhibition elements. The exhibit will have its opening in June 2019 within the botanical garden of Bremen, displaying the latest research results of the EDEN group with respect to future food production on Moon/Mars and Earth. With respect to scientific dissemination, the EDEN group helped to organize the AGROSPACE 2018 workshop in Rome - this time as a joint event with the MELiSSA group of ESA. With over 200 conference participants, the conference clearly set a new record compared to past AGROSPACE workshops. As already long-planned, at the end of the Antarctic deployment mission, Dr. Matthew Bamsey left the EDEN Group and moved back to his home country Canada. From here, he pursues his career in the space domain with the space exploration division of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). Matt helped to essentially build up the EDEN group, including the EDEN laboratory, he supervised numerous students, and he was chief systems engineer for the EDEN ISS project. The whole EDEN team wishes him success for his future career path! I personally want to thank Matt for his great work and I am confident that our paths will cross again, as future collaborations between CSA and DLR are envisioned!