Pergamon

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Ah? Space Res. Vol. 27, No. 9, p. 1495,200l Q 2001 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd on behalf of COSPAR.

Printed in Great Britain 0273-I 177/01 $20.00 + 0.00

PII: SO273-1177(Ol)OO241-I

PREFACE

This volume contains papers from the F4.4 Life Science session on Closed Ecological Systems: Earth and Space Applications, held as part of the 33’d COSPAR general assembly in Warsaw, Poland in July 2000. Nicholas Pechurkin was the chief scientific organizer of the session.. The study of materially closed but energetically/informationally open ecological systems is one of the newest sciences, and its development has had two main drivers: as experimental laboratories for understanding basic ecological and biospheric mechanisms and cycles, and in the development of bioregenerative life support systems for space application. The origins of closed ecological systems may be traced from the ecological microcosm and mesocosm research of H.T. Odum and others, to the closed laboratory ecospheres of Clair Folsome at the University of Hawaii in the 196Os, and the 195Os-1960s Russian and NASA experimental work with simple bioregenerative closed systems involving algae and human inhabitants. The Bios-3 closed ecological system, Institute of Biophysics in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia was the first to include higher plants and to achieve a high degree of closure over periods up to 6 months. The Biosphere 2 system in Arizona was the first to include a range of ecosystems (being the first “biospheric” as well as human life support closed ecological system) and achieving virtually total water recycling and complete nutrition for its crew during three years of closed system experiments, 1991-1994. European efforts have included the CEBAS closed system focused on aquatic organisms, which has been extensively ground-tested and applied in space. Currently, the Japanese CEEF (Closed Ecological Experiment Facilities) is already operational, and includes both higher plant crop and domestic animal modules, as well as geosphere and hydrosphere components. At Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center, NASA is developing both closed ecological systems and bioregenerative life support technologies.

These papers demonstrate the broad interests that have developed in the field of closed ecological systems. These applications range from use of small, man-made ecosystems for the study of fundamental processes and dynamics of ecology; the development of prototype bioregenerative life support systems for space and extreme environment application, spin-off technologies which can be used for improving Earth’s environment and economy, and the use of closed ecological system laboratories for elucidating global biospheric problems. The papers reflect the strong tradition in Russian space life science with reports from the Moscow and Krasnoyarsk centers, traditional leaders in closed ecological system research, recent German work especially with aquatic organism life support systems, and the continuing importance of the Biosphere 2 closed ecological system experimental work in advancing the field. This volume also includes some of the first reports of experimental data from the use of CEEF in northern Japan.

The editor would like to thank the scientists who refereed these papers: A. Drysdale, V. Bluem, A. Brilkov, W.F. Dempster, J.I. Gitelson, Y. Kitaya, L.G. Kosolapova, E.E. Maksimova, V. Meshevikin, G. Nechitailo, M. Nelson, K. Nitta, N.S. Pechurkin, T.L. Pisman, S. Bartsev, L.A. Somova, V.N. Sychev, Y. Tako, N.A. Tyulkopva and A.A. Tikhomirov who contributed so generously their time.

Mark Nelson

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