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#1 2022-06-13 08:24:13

tahanson43206
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Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,755

Austin Stanley Postings

This post from 2004 makes what seems (to me at least) a sensible observation about Nitrogen for space flight.

Austin Stanley wrote:

Radiation in space is no where near the levels necessary to damage food enrout.  It's dead after all, so any changes that ionizing radiation might cause to it's make-up are so minor as to be completely ignorable (and probably not even detectable).  It's not like it is going become radioactive or something.  In fact space can be an excelent enviroment for preserving food.  It's very cold in the shade, and exposure to vacume to leathal to most micro-organisims, and the radiation (which is harmless to the inert food) also helps to santize the rations.

But food is actualy a fairly minor part of the consumable requiments for a manned base, although one of the most complex.  I am most worried about nitrogen.  While it is not consumed in great amounts by any specific process on mars (plants and some bacteria consume a minor amount) it is a very necessary part of the hab-atmosphere, and some will be doubless be lost due to leakage and whatnot and there is no easy way to replace this lost gas.

(th)

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#2 2023-11-22 13:14:20

tahanson43206
Moderator
Registered: 2018-04-27
Posts: 16,755

Re: Austin Stanley Postings

This post is to bring Austin Stanley's post from 2004 back into view.  I found it sitting idle while looking for Greg Stanley's topic.

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