The New Italian Bioregenerative Life Support Program CAB

The Bioregenerative Life Support program CAB (Controllo Ambientale Biorigenerativo) is a key element of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) Medicine & Biotechnology scientific program, set forth in the ASI Activity Plan 2006-2008.

The CAB program started in October 2006, under the prime partnership of Thales Alenia Space Italia, with a feasibility study of a controlled biological system, allowing the regeneration of resources and the production of food for life support in long duration missions.

Main constituents of the CAB program are (a) higher plants as basic elements for food and oxygen production, CO₂ regeneration and water purification via the photosynthetic and leaf transpiration processes, and (b) biological & physico-chemical systems for environmental control, monitoring, power & data distribution, etc. The sectors of technological and scientific concern are practically all the ones typical for life support systems in the frame of long duration human missions, i.e.:

• Food production, in particular via the cultivation of higher plants, and food management
• Air regeneration (Production of O₂, Removal of CO₂, Trace Gas Control)
• Water regeneration (Urine processing, Gray water processing, Potable water management)
• Solid waste processing
• Resources allocation and storage
• Control of environmental conditions (Thermal-hygrometric, light, pressure, radiation, etc).