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Provide a brief summary description of the proposed food production technology. This may be displayed on the competition website postsubmission.
This is your elevator pitch to describe your food production technology to the Judging Panel members. This is your opportunity to make a strong first impression, so make every word count!
Provide a brief summary description of the food production technology to address the following questions:
• What is your proposed technology?
• What is novel, sustainable, and innovative about your proposed technology?
• What types of food does your technology produce?
• How are you minimizing inputs and maximizing food outputs?
2.1 Description of the food production technology
Describe what the technology is, what it does, how it functions, and how the crew will interact with it. Include descriptions of major hardware components and processes.*
Describe the basic operations concept of the food production technology. Describe assumptions required of operation. For example, is a sterile/aseptic environment needed? Are special steps required between production cycles? Must fluids or materials be removed or added to prime/inoculate a system?
Describe what makes the food production technology novel, innovative and sustainable*
Describe and/or confirm how the food production technology design adheres to the constraints listed below:
¹ In Phase 1, Adherence to Constraints is not meant to determine whether the Design Report itself is complete in including all the required information. This question is meant to ensure that Teams have considered the constraints, and that the food production technology design, at a minimum, falls within those constraints. In future Phases, Teams’ food production technologies will be evaluated and scored on whether or not the design stays within the constraints so that it ultimately can meet NASA and CSA’s needs and deliver value.
VOLUME:
Food production technology must:
• Be ≤ 2 cubic meters
• Pass through a doorway that is 1.07 m wide and 1.90 m tall
• Fit in a room that is: 1.829 m X 2.438 m X 2.591 m (W x D x H)
POWER:
Food production technology must:
• Maximum draw of 3,000 Watts
• Average draw of <1,500 Watts
WATER:
Net consumption of water is not constrained, but greater net water consumption may result in a lower score on the Resource Inputs & Outputs performance requirement described later in the application.
Net consumption of water is measured by the following equation:
CNet = (Initial water input + “new water” added over time)
In this calculation:
• Do not include water recycled by your system in the “new water”
• Do not subtract the water remaining in your system after the food has been collected
• Do not subtract water lost to the vehicle environment (e.g., water evaporated into the vehicle’s air)
MASS:
Not constrained, but greater mass may result in a lower score on the Resource Inputs & Outputs performance requirement.
DATA CONNECTION:
In Phase 1, the food production technology may be designed to transmit operational data and limited video to a remote location outside of the technology itself, and receive periodic operational commands. Future phases of this Challenge will require greater autonomy.
CREW TIME:
Maintenance & Operations of the system: Not constrained, although Teams should target a maximum crew time of 4 hours per week for operations of the food production technology for the entire crew of 4 individuals.
OPERATIONAL CONSTRAINTS:
Earth gravity (9.81 m/s²) and ambient atmospheric conditions of 101,325 Pascals, 22 degrees Celsius and 50 percent relative humidity.
2.4.1 ACCEPTABILITY – Process
Operations processes and procedures, including how a person will set up and use the solution:
• Operational footprint (i.e., how much space is needed for the solution and its related processes?)
• Food production technology set up
• Food production cycle, including steps to produce food products
• Food handling, processing procedures and collection of food products
• Shutdown, cleaning, and/or stowage procedure(s)
• An estimate of the overall crew time to operate and maintain the technology
Provide an assessment (using industry standards and/or existing research) that your technology processes are likely to be user friendly and acceptable to crew.
ACCEPTABILITY – Food products
Provide an assessment (using industry standards and existing research) that the food outputs of your technology are likely to meet the acceptability target. This assessment should include appearance, aroma, palatability, flavor, and texture.
NOTE: Designs that fail to account for pathogens (for both process and food products) will receive a "fail" score in the safety category.
SAFETY – Process
Describe the safety of the food production process, including any potential operational risks for the technology; indicate how they may be mitigated on a three-year mission. Describe relevant food safety procedures.
SAFETY – Food products
Describe the safety of the resulting food products, including safety for repeated human consumption.
Describe the resource requirements of the food production process (inputs) and all outputs. Estimated quantities of each input and output should be provided:
INPUTS to the technology
• Physicochemical/material inputs
• Water
• Energy
• Other inputs
OUTPUTS from the technology
• Food products
• Waste
• Heat (Latent and Sensible)
• Other outputs or benefits
Describe how the food production technology achieves the greatest amount of food output in relation to the quantity of inputs and quantity of waste output.
Describe the nutritional quality of the resulting food products:
• Macronutrients
• Micronutrients
• Variety of Nutrients
RELIABILITY – Process
Describe how the food production technology can reliably perform its intended function. You may include:
• Operational lifespan (i.e., how long is the solution designed to last?)
• Whether there is less than 10% loss of functionality or food production
• Maintenance processes and procedures
• Maintenance schedule (i.e., how often will it need maintenance?)
• Component/element maintenance or replacement (i.e., what components will need to be replaced, and when?)
• Critical spare parts for a three-year mission
STABILITY
Describe the stability of both the input products used and food product outputs. Description should include the estimated time the inputs and outputs will be fit for use and/or consumption (i.e., shelf-life).
Describe how the food production technology may have the potential to improve terrestrial food production*
• Who owns the intellectual property of the proposed solution? Explain.
• Is your Team part of an organization?
• Is the solution built on existing or off-the-shelf technology? If so, detail the permissions (if applicable) you have to use that technology.
