An interdisciplinary team of Texas A&M University scientists and engineers is developing concepts for controlled ecological life support systems (CELSS) employing combinations of biological, physical, and chemical components. The team includes members of several departments from the Colleges of Engineering, Science, and Agriculture. Their complementary skills are being combined to address efficient supply and recycling of food, atmosphere, water and waste products, whether for reuse in the same form, or for making materials, providing energy, or other products needed in space.
Team activities produced concepts being studied in detail and technical issues being addressed by experiments in a laboratory environment. An Integrated Waste and Water Management System built by General Electric provides basic capabilities for preprocessing waste products, and for making baseline comparisons with proven physical and chemical systems. Methods being used by the team to integrate concepts and to undertake critical experiments are discussed.