Extreme Environment Greenhouse Operation

by Ray R. Collins

This was an independent study class I designed myself, and learned it under the direction of Dr. Patricia Holloway. Integral to this class were two primary features: attending Pat's UAF Greenhouse Management class and running Mars Base Zero, which is a semi-closed ecological life support system. In general this class was built around 6 factors:

I.                    Care and maintenance of Mars Base Zero including planting, watering, weeding, pest control, data logging, temperature maintenance and all the other factors involved in running a greenhouse at temperatures down to minus 60° F.

·        Diary, covering 1/1/00 to 3/9/00

·        Planting schedule & growth results

·        Problems and Solutions

II.                 Analysis of the soil, plants and atmosphere for nutrients and toxins.

III.               CO₂ monitoring and experiments

IV.              Food supplies and considerations

·        Food list of the foods purchased on 1/1/00 for a 4 month stay in Mars Base Zero

1.      Table of foods, with starting amounts, ending amounts and calculations of amount eaten.

·        Water usage approximations

·        Human nutritional considerations in the design of a closed ecosystem for life support

·        Foods eaten and dietary analysis for 3/20-4/30 (primarily as a method of demonstrating how the dietary analysis works)

V.                 Composting

VI.              Putting the class notes from Greenhouse Management on the world wide web.