Human interstellar exploration involves navigating through a realm of significant uncertainty. Assessing the exact impact and consequences of moving at high velocities through the interstellar medium is challenging. Interstellar space is home to considerable amounts of cosmic dust, comprising microscopic particles with a wide range of sizes and compositions. At high speeds, spacecraft face significant risks from accumulating collisions with these particles. However, the expansive nature of interstellar space currently makes it impossible to accurately measure and chart the spread of this dust along specific trajectories. Interstellar space is also filled with high-energy cosmic rays, emitted by distant stars and other cosmic bodies. Dominated by protons and atomic nuclei, these cosmic rays travel nearly at the speed of light. The enduring effects of exposure to such radiation on the spacecraft, its crew, and the life support systems that sustain them remain unknown. The question then arises how to design an interstellar spacecraft capable of withstanding such inherent uncertainties. The solution requires a system robust enough to remain functional across diverse conditions. To try to cover for all possibilities in a top-down approach quickly becomes unfeasible. A promising direction is a bio-inspired adaptative approach. The Evolving Asteroid Starships (E|A|S) project integrates the utilization and recycling of local resources, self-organization, and bioregenerative principles to create a resilient spacecraft design. This aligns with the top priorities from NASEM's 2023 decadal survey, emphasizing space research on circular materials and bioregenerative life support. Within the framework of the E|A|S project, two distinct computer models have been developed, aiming for their eventual integration into a unified multi-model system. The inspiration for these models came in part from ESA's MELiSSA program and a visionary 1982 NASA study on a self-replicating lunar factory. Once living artificial ecosystems and self-organizing architectures are deployed, one is confronted with potential chaotic behaviour characteristic of complex systems. Sets of critical conditions that can push an otherwise stable self-sustaining system into collapse and failure were identified. It's crucial to gain a deeper understanding of how these systems function over extended periods, both under ideal environmental conditions and within the unpredictable exacting context of the interstellar medium. To address these challenges, the key drivers of systemic resilience (or lack thereof) were identified through an exploration of the characteristics of the individual components of each system. Moreover, potential mitigation strategies were also explored. These include enlarging buffer capacities, integrating redundancy, and enhancing system adaptability.

The interaction between art and science has contributed significantly to humanity throughout the centuries, leading to discoveries that have shaped our current cultural and scientific landscape. It shows diverse human abilities to express and blend technical proficiency, delicacy, emotional power, and conceptual and analytical ideas. Today, we have potent technological aids for making discoveries, such as supercomputers, particle accelerators, and space telescopes, but imagination and creativity remain our most potent attributes in problem-solving. In some cases today, humans cannot perfectly observe things in the microcosm and macrocosm, which leads to the question of how to communicate observations made with advanced technologies more intricately and excitingly. We believe that hand illustrations are still as potent as they were in the times of Leonardo Da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, and Charles Darwin. This study focuses on human perception to reimagine the life and evolution of rotifers on Earth and on board the International Space Station (ISS) using a series of hand drawings. The molecular and genetic scale of a series of space biology experiments with rotifers inspires the drawings. The drawings are preparatory studies for sculptures in the Ēngines of Ēternity project of SEADS. Ēngines of Ēternity uses the biological phenomena of cloning and DNA repair as metaphorical departure points for a series of evolving art installations about humanity's fascination with cultural immortality. The project is a collaboration between the SEADS collective and the scientific laboratory of Karine Van Doninck (ULB/UNamur). In a series of space biology experiments with rotifers, thumb-printed glyphs were added by SEADS as abstract codes, which were first sent to the ISS in 2019. Upon return, these visual codes were evolved using the genetic response of the rotifer's exposure to the space environment. This method subsequently became the starting point for a larger three-dimensional parametric artwork. To confront the project's visual and aesthetic challenges, hand illustrations were fundamental in opening up the possibility of thinking outside the limitations of digital aids such as design software. The hand illustrations encompass an abstract and highly subjective artistic reimagination building on understanding complex biological activities and dynamics within the rotifer's DNA. This work aims to explore a new visual spectrum in a comprehensive and exciting approach to artistic engagements with experimental space science.

The horticulture sector in the Netherlands is a global leader due to technological advancements, knowledge of greenhouse cultivation with high productivities and low resource usage, and entrepreneurship. The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of vegetables in the world, and more than half of its land area is used for agriculture with some greenhouse complexes covering 175 acres. However, to retain this leading position, the sector has acknowledged that it needs to keep innovating. To further reduce waste and environmental impact, an innovative production strategy is being developed to support a circular economy: the circular greenhouse. LDE Greenport Hub is an entity of the strategic alliance of the universities of Leiden, Delft and Erasmus and is focused on horticulture scientific research and education in collaboration with major horticulture industry partners (such as sector association Glastuinbouw Nederland). It has initiated ‘Mission to Mars’, a program to boost innovation and development of the circular greenhouse by adopting concepts and technologies from space. Space is inherently focused on circularity because of scarce resources. A good example is the MELiSSA concept of the European Space Agency in which human waste is broken down into nutrients for crops and algae by a series of bioreactors. The crops and algae consequently provide food and oxygen for the crew again. The Mission to Mars program started with a lecture series in the beginning of 2018 at the World Horti Center, a horticulture business and innovation center in Naaldwijk. In seven lectures different aspects of sustainability and circularity were explored together with researchers, students, growers and horticulturists. The lectures covered (1) energy, (2) water, (3) lighting and climate, (4) soil, substrate and plant health, (5) material and energy streams, (6) digitization and automation, and (7) urban and vertical farming. It quickly became clear that not only terrestrial horticulture could benefit from space technologies, but that human space exploration could equally benefit from the technical and tacit knowledge of growers and horticulturists for food production in space. A list of potential research topics was identified. These topics are to be explored in a follow-up ESA Innovation Exchange, together with space technology partner ICE Cubes. The goal is to go beyond the circular greenhouse and demonstrate how space itself can be an environment for plant biology innovation, and hence increase future food security on Earth.

To enable sustainable long-duration human space flight, regenerative life support systems (RLSS) will be indispensable. Waste materials will need to be processed and transformed back into nutrients for life-supporting ecosystems. MELiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative) is a well-documented and studied example of such an RLSS, developed by the European Space Agency. The system consists of five interconnected compartments: a crew compartment, an edible plant/algae compartment, and three types of bioreactors. The microorganisms in the bioreactors gradually break down the waste materials of the astronauts and provide the edible plants and algae with their necessary resources. This paper proposes a model of an agent-based system (ABM) of MELiSSA in which the five compartments and their interactions are modeled and implemented using virtual agents that represent humans, plant plots, and bioreactors. The model also includes the corresponding mass flows of chemicals. For each type of agent, its properties, behavior, life cycle, and rules of interaction are described. An 'administrator agent' implements 'top-down' rules for overall control where needed. The behavior of each biological agent is modeled according to the expected behavior and main chemical reactions within each MELiSSA compartment, as documented in publicly available sources. Rules implemented to describe the complete life cycle of the agents - e.g., growth curves and susceptibility to nourishment deficits - are also included. This 'bottom-up' approach, characteristic for ABM, allows for the emergence of patterns that provide insight into the behavior of the overall system. In addition, the mass flows are made visible as the different chemical compounds are exchanged between compartments. This agent-based system of MELiSSA is, in fact, a simulation platform with which the behavior of the cycle as a whole, down to its individual agents, enables exploration of the robustness of the system and the impact of stressors on survivability. A series of simulation experiments has been set up for this purpose. Two types of stressors are used in these experiments. First, stochastic outputs from at least one of the compartments, beginning with the crew compartment. Second, environmental stressors, more specifically cosmic radiation causing loss of metabolic functionality and particle impact causing catastrophic failure of parts of the life support system. This research is part of the E|A|S (Evolving Asteroid Starships) project by the DSTART team at Delft University of Technology. The project entails conceptual research on interstellar travel, including onboard regenerative ecosystems.

The horticulture sector in the Netherlands is a global leader due to technological advancements, knowledge of greenhouse cultivation with high productivities and low resource usage, and entrepreneurship. The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of vegetables in the world, and more than half of its land area is used for agriculture with some greenhouse complexes covering 175 acres. However, to retain this leading position, the sector has acknowledged that it needs to keep innovating. To further reduce waste and environmental impact, an innovative production strategy is being developed to support a circular economy: the circular greenhouse. LDE Greenport Hub is an entity of the strategic alliance of the Universities of Leiden, Delft and Erasmus and is focused on horticulture scientific research and education in collaboration with major horticulture industry partners (such as sector association LTO Glaskracht). It has initiated 'Mission to Mars', a program to boost innovation and development of the circular greenhouse by adopting concepts and technologies from space. Space is inherently focused on circularity because of scarce resources. A good example is the MELiSSA concept of the European Space Agency in which human waste is broken down into nutrients for crops and algae by a series of bioreactors. The crops and algae consequently provide food and oxygen for the crew again. The Mission to Mars program started with a lecture series in the beginning of 2018 at the World Horti Center, a horticulture business and innovation center in Naaldwijk. In seven lectures different aspects of sustainability and circularity were explored together with researchers, students, growers and horticulturists. The lectures covered (1) energy, (2) water, (3) lighting and climate, (4) soil, substrate and plant health, (5) material and energy streams, (6) digitization and automation, and (7) urban and vertical farming. It quickly became clear that not only terrestrial horticulture could benefit from space technologies, but that human space exploration could equally benefit from the technical and tacit knowledge of growers and horticulturists for food production in space. A list of potential research topics was identified. These topics are to be explored in a follow-up ESA Innovation Exchange, together with space technology partner ICE Cubes. The goal is to go beyond the circular greenhouse and demonstrate how space itself can be an environment for plant biology innovation, and hence increase future food security on Earth.

Space-based manufacturing is considered a crucial next step for the further development of human settlement in space. There are vast quantities of building resources distributed throughout space, with asteroids among the most apparent candidates for large-scale mining and resource provision. In this presentation, we present a hybrid simulation model in which building materials extracted from asteroids are used in a differential 3D manufacturing process to create expanding modular space architecture. This work is part of the larger research programme E|A|S (Evolving Asteroid Starships) in which concepts for self-developing and evolvable interstellar spacecraft are being created by the DSTART team at Delft University of Technology. A high-level 'factory model' has been created that simulates the different steps of an entire production chain. The functions of the core disjunct components of the model range from mining, processing, storage, and 3D printing to biological life support and habitation. The model's backbone consists of a heuristic based on a decision tree that handles multiple incoming production requests. Architectural production is needed to cope with (1) population growth of the inhabitants, and (2) the need for replacement of modules due to space weathering caused by particle impact and structural fatigue caused by high-energy cosmic radiation. The simulation model combines DEVS (discrete event system specification) and DESS (differential equation system specification) approaches and includes an abstract animated visualization. The model allows the user to keep track of material flows, bottlenecks and production efficiencies. In a series of simulation experiments three parameters are varied: (1) system properties (including aspects such as processing speed and storage capacity), (2) resource availability (by varying the chemical composition of the asteroids), and (3) production demand (which depends on population dynamics and the need for module replacement). These experiments are designed to increase understanding of the performance of the envisioned system under different conditions. In this paper, the results of these different simulation experiments are described and compared. The relevance for the larger project goals of E|A|S are discussed, and conclusions are drawn for future research on evolvable space architecture concepts.

In order to sustain human life for extended periods of time in deep space one cannot solely rely on support from Earth. It'll be essential to become self-sustaining through a combination of in situ resource utilization, waste recycling, and space farming. The latter can provide astronauts and colonists with locally grown food and biogenic oxygen, and will be an indispensable component of any future outpost in deep space. The type of agriculture that will develop itself in outer space will be extremely technologically mediated because of limited resources and the hostile conditions in which crops have to be cultivated. From a biopolitics perspective, this will cause a significant shift in power relations. Because of the extreme dependence on technology, the lack of open reservoirs (e.g., no atmosphere), and an atomized commodification of life-supporting resources (every molecule is valuable), space colonists will live in a world in which they are potentially vulnerable to inequalities, power concentrations, and even coercion. Historically, colonization and agriculture have always worked with each other. But in the unparalleled conditions of space, this dialectic relationship is bound to take on new contours, with its own unique set of ideologies and ethical ramifications. The 'Space Farming Project' is an art project that specifically addresses these issues. It was initiated by the international SEAD collective, developed in collaboration with Gluon and Howest, and supported by the Flemish Government. Together with a diverse community of volunteering technologists, agricultural researchers, teachers, and students, different space biology prototypes have been developed: a centrifuge for plant cultivation in space, a microgravity simulator, and experiments with spirulina algae and edible callus tissue. These are the central components of a larger art installation that also features visual and discursive references to the history and future of colonization, and its entwinement with agriculture. In this paper, the conceptual background of the 'Space Farming Project' is described, together with its development process and the resulting prototypes. The future of the project, with potential experiments on board the ISS, is also discussed.

The hostile and unpredictable environment of deep space requires a new conceptual approach for interstellar flight, one that differs radically from any current design in aerospace. A design solution is proposed in which the starship is attached to a C-type asteroid and whose architecture evolves over time. The starship gradually mines resources of the asteroid, while at the same time using it as a shielding structure against frontal impacts. The extracted raw materials are used for cultivation of the onboard ecosystem and expansion of the starship's architecture, the latter of which is primarily conducted by mobile 3D printers. Within the bounds of its sensing horizon, the spacecraft can detect prospective high-energy particle collisions and radiation events along its upcoming flight path. Subsequently, the starship will adapt itself by changing its interior and exterior morphology. This constant evolution aims to minimize the spacecraft damage and loss of functionality, and handles the inherent unpredictability of the mission. The Delft University of Technology Starship Team (DSTART) simulates this concept using an array of different techniques. The ecosystem dynamics are approached using agent-based modeling, while the evolving architecture of the starship is approached with genetic algorithms. The starship simulation relies on four distinct timelines. A first timeline provides real-time updates on the state of the starship's regenerative ecosystem, with a focus on population sizes, mass fluxes, and radiation impact. ESA's MELiSSA project was used as a conceptual blueprint for the ecosystem. A second timeline deals with the growth of the starship architecture, taking into account material supplies, mining rates, 3D printing speeds and wear of existing structures. The third timeline forecasts the impact of future particle collisions and interstellar radiation as assessed within the sensing horizon. The fourth and final timeline is concerned with the evolution of the starship architecture as a response to this forecast. This is done by comparing the structural integrity and ecosystem health of different variations of the starship's morphology. The first results of this work will be presented, as well as an overview of the implications for space system design.