NASA Consortium AD ASTRA (Anaerobic Digestion for Advanced Space Technology and Resource Acquisition)
Intro to Mission
NASA AD ASTRA (Anaerobic Digestion for Advanced Space Technology and Resource Acquisition) is a NASA-funded research consortium developing biomanufacturing and regenerative life-support technologies for long-duration space exploration. Led by Washington University in St. Louis, the consortium brings together researchers in anaerobic digestion, microbial ecology, synthetic biology, cyanobacterial engineering, space biology, and bioprocess engineering to convert astronaut waste into useful resources for sustainable space habitats.
Research Tasks
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Develop and characterize an efficient AD process that can convert waste from humans in space into volatile fatty acids (VFAs) rather than methane (CH4). We will optimize chemical inhibitors or oxygen concentrations to limit methanogenesis, with acetate as the final output.
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Engineer and characterize cyanobacterial strains (Synechococcus elongatus UTEX 2973 (S2973)) and their coculture with heterotrophs that can use AD-processed wastewater and CO2 to produce oxygen (O2), protein-rich biomass as a food source, polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymers like polylactic acid (PLA), and natural products such as β-carotene.
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Understand how simulated low gravity affects microbial AD and VFA production, as well as the phototrophic metabolisms of workhorses during bioproduction.
Meet The PI Team
Professor
Culture Analysis and Modeling
Washington University in St. Louis
Professor
Cyanobacterial Engineering and Synthetic Biology
Washington University in St. Louis
Assistant Professor
Microbial Ecology/omics
Saint Louis University
Associate Professor (Department Chair)
Soil Science
Lincoln University, MO
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Senior Research Scientist
Payload Systems Engineer
NASA Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Associate Professor
Synthetic Biology and Aerospace Engineering
University of Florida
Assistant Professor
Space Biology
University of Florida
Associate Professor
Biomolecular Engineering
University of Delaware
Meet The Key Personnel Team
Shrameeta R. Shinde, Postdoc
Soumila Mondal, Postdoc
Eunseo Lee, PhD
Zhine Wang, Postdoc
Washington University in St. Louis
She focuses on understanding the metabolic capabilities of diverse microbial chassis and leveraging them for applications including space biomanufacturing.
Washington University in St. Louis
She will work on photosynthetic organisms such as cyanobacteria to enhance metabolic efficiency, induce stress tolerance, and enable the sustainable biosynthesis of high-value bioproducts.
Washington University in St. Louis
She will study anaerobic digestion and bioproduction in space conditions (vacuum, low temperature, etc.) with different yeast, microbial, and cyanobacterial species.
Saint Louis University
He will work on microbial communities and their functional traits related to methanogenesis.
Millie Savage, Research Assistant
Lincoln University of Missouri
She will serve as a research assistant in Dr. Tang's Lab to help with the anaerobic digestion and bioproduction of this project.
Travis Barrett, Research Assistant
Hannah Robers, PhD
Grace M. Halferty, PhD
Lincoln University of Missouri
Travis will study bioproduction of heterotrophic microbes, phototrophic microbes, and eukaryotic organisms in space conditions.
University of Florida
Her research interests include characterizing and optimizing microbial biomanufacturing in variable gravity levels, and implementing it into bioregenerative life support systems.
University of Florida
She will work on space synthetic biology and the use of robotics and/or manufacturing techniques to address challenges across space exploration, biology, and medicine.
Jackson Bland, PhD
Richa Guleria, Postdoc
Birch Fabregas, Research Assistant
University of Florida
He is responsible for engineering the mixotroph C. necator to produce high-quality p(LA) biopolymers from VFAs provided via anaerobic digestion.
University of Delaware
She will work on engineering yeast for improved coculture applications and formation of desired products.
Saint Louis University
Birch will characterize microbial and methanogenic community abundance and function in human waste samples. She will also help develop AD protocol to inhibit methanogenesis and synthesize VFAs, and train undergraduate interns.