Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Optimizing an On-Demand Passive Fertigation System for Microgravity Cover

Optimizing an On-Demand Passive Fertigation System for Microgravity

Open Access
|Oct 2025

References

  1. Dixon C, Sheng W, Zhou R, Horton R, Jones SB (2023) Thermal property standards using granular media with air-pluviation and heat pulse probe measurements. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 330: 109303. doi: 10.1016/J.AGRFORMET.2022.109303
  2. Elasri, MO, Miller RV (1999) Study of the response of a biofilm bacterial community to UV radiation. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 65(5): 2025–2031. doi: 10.1128/AEM.65.5.2025-2031.1999
  3. Fields JS, Owen J, Lamm A, Altland JE, Jackson BE, (2021) Soilless substrate science: a North American needs assessment to steer soilless substrate research into the future. Acta Horticulturae 1317: 313–318. doi: 10.17660/ACTAHORTIC.2021.1317.36
  4. Haeuplik-Meusburger S, Paterson C, Schubert D, Zabel P (2014) Greenhouses and their humanizing synergies. Acta Astronautica 96(1): 138–150. doi: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2013.11.031
  5. Heinse R, Humphries SD, MacE SE, Jones SB, Steinberg SL, (2005) Measurement of porous media hydraulic properties during parabolic flight induced microgravity. SAE Technical Paper 2005-01-2950. https://doi.org/10.4271/2005-01-2950
  6. Heinse R, Jones SB, Or D, Podolskiy I, Topham TS, Poritz D, Bingham GE (2015) Microgravity oxygen diffusion and water retention measurements in unsaturated porous media aboard the International Space Station. Special section: Organic materials used in agriculture, horticulture, reconstructed soils, and filtering applications. Vadose Zone Journal 14: 1–19. https://doi.org/10.2136/vzj2014.10.0135
  7. Heinse R, Jones SB, Steinberg SL, Tuller M, Or D (2007) Measurements and modeling of variable gravity effects on water distribution and flow in unsaturated porous media. Vadose Zone Journal 6(4): 713–724. doi: 10.2136/vzj2006.0105
  8. Hillel D (1998) Environmental Soil Physics: Fundamentals, Applications, and Environmental Considerations. San Diego: Academic Press
  9. Holden J (2004) Mariotte bottle: use in hydrology. Water Encyclopedia. Wiley. pp. 503–504
  10. Johnson CM, Boles HO, Spencer LSE, Poulet L, Romeyn M, (2021) Supplemental food production with plants: a review of NASA research. Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences 8: 198. doi: 10.3389/FSPAS.2021.734343/BIBTEX
  11. Jones SB, Or D (1998a) A capillary-driven root module for plant growth in microgravity. Advances in Space Research 22(10): 1407–1412. doi: 10.1016/S0273-1177(98)00215-4
  12. Jones SB, Or D (1998b) Design of porous media for optimal gas and liquid fluxes to plant roots. Soil Science Society of America Journal 62(3): 563–573. doi: 10.2136/sssaj1998.03615995006200030002x
  13. Jones SB, Or D, Heinse R, Tuller M (2012) Beyond Earth: designing root zone environments for reduced gravity conditions. Vadose Zone Journal 11(1). doi: 10.2136/vzj2011.0081
  14. Khodadad CLM, Hummerick ME, Spencer LE, Dixit AR, Richards JT, (2020) Microbiological and nutritional analysis of lettuce crops grown on the International Space Station. Frontiers in Plant Science 11. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2020.00199
  15. Lee S, Lee J (2015) Beneficial bacteria and fungi in hydroponic systems: types and characteristics of hydroponic food production methods. Scientia Horticulturae 195: 206–215. doi: 10.1016/j.scienta.2015.09.011
  16. Lieth JH, Oki LR (2019). Irrigation in soilless production. In Soilless Culture: Theory and Practice (2nd ed), pp. 381–423. Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-63696-6.00009-8
  17. Link BM, Durst SJ, Zhou W, Stankovic B (2003) Seed-to-seed growth of Arabidopsis thaliana on the International Space Station. Advances in Space Research 31(10): 2237–2243. doi: 10.1016/S0273-1177(03)00250-3
  18. Massa GD, Dufour NF, Carver JA, Hummerick ME, Wheeler RM, (2017) VEG-01: veggie hardware validation testing on the International Space Station. Open Agriculture 2(1): 33–41
  19. McCarthy EL (1934) Mariotte's bottle. Science 80(2065): 100.
  20. Miura S, Toki S (1982) A sample preparation method and its effect on static and cyclic deformation-strength properties of sand. Soils and Foundations 22(1): 61–77. doi: 10.3208/SANDF1972.22.61
  21. Monje O, Richards JT, Carver JA, Dimapilis DI, Levine HG, (2020) Hardware validation of the advanced plant habitat on ISS: canopy photosynthesis in reduced gravity. Frontiers in Plant Science 11: 673. doi: 10.3389/FPLS.2020.00673/BIBTEX
  22. Morrow RC, Crabb TM (2000) Biomass production system (BPS) plant growth unit. Advances in Space Research 26(2): 289–298. doi: 10.1016/S0273-1177(99)00573-6
  23. Mualem Y (1976) A new model for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated porous media. Water Resources Research 12(3): 513–522. doi: 10.1029/WR012i003p00513
  24. Pham HQ, Fredlund DG, Barbour SL (2005) A study of hysteresis models for soil-water characteristic curves. Canadian Geotechnical Journal 42(6): 1548–1568. doi: 10.1139/T05-071
  25. Raviv M, Wallach R, Blom TJ (2004) The effect of physical properties of soilless media on plant performance: a review. Acta Horticulturae 644: 251–259. doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.644.34.
  26. Stutte GW, Newsham G, Morrow RM, Wheeler RM (2011) Concept for sustained plant production on ISS using VEGGIE capillary mat rooting system. 41st International Conference on Environmental Systems 2011, 17–21 July 2011, Portland OR. Reston, VA: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
  27. Tobias KDW, Iden SC, Durner W (2016) Unsaturated hydraulic properties of sphagnum moss and peat reveal trimodal pore-size distributions. Water Resources Research 53(1): 415–434. doi: 10.1002/2016WR019707
  28. van Genuchten MTh (1980) A closed-form equation for predicting the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils 1. Soil Science Society of America Journal 44(5): 892–898. doi: 10.2136/sssaj1980.03615995004400050002x
  29. van Os EA, Stijger CCMM, Breeuwsma SJ (2021) Investigating the potential risk for accumulation of cleansing products in closed soilless culture systems. Acta Horticulturae 1321: 55–62. doi: 10.17660/ActaHortic.2021.1321.8
  30. Wallach R (2008) Physical characteristics of soilless media. In Soilless Culture: Theory and Practice (2nd ed), pp. 41–116. Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63696-6.00003-7
  31. Yendler B (1998) Preliminary evaluation of soil moisture probe for use with arcillite. Advances in Space Research 22(10): 1419–1423. doi: 10.1016/S0273-1177(98)00216-6
Language: English
Page range: 90 - 102
Published on: Oct 10, 2025
Published by: American Society for Gravitational and Space Research
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2025 Chihiro Dixon, Gioia D. Massa, Scott B. Jones, published by American Society for Gravitational and Space Research
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.