The BIOWYSE project is focusing on water loops and humid areas on board ISS and future human exploration missions. Microbiological contamination can be attenuated and controlled, never eliminated. As demonstrated in several years of ground studies and actual space operations, humid areas and wet systems are the most prone to biocontamination. Space exploration requires the development of more reliable, rapid, signif-icant and safe methods for preventing, monitoring and controlling biocontamination within human confined environments. These methods have to be automated, simple, lightweight and with minimal consumables.
Both space and terrestrial monitoring and prevention/mitigation methods are currently working separately, rather than in synergy. The BIOWYSE project foresees development and demonstration of an integrated biocontamination control system for water and humid areas, for space exploration habitat management within infrastructures, experimental payloads, cargo and crew transportation elements, to be demonstrated on the ISS.
The main goal of the BIOWYSE project is:
Development and demonstration of compact, integrated solution (hardware & software) and operational method for preventing, monitoring and mitigating the microbial contamination risk in water systems and humid surfaces on-board ISS and in future human space exploration missions.
To achieve its main goal and to validate key technologies for the biocontamination control integrated system under representative conditions, the BIOWYSE project pursues the following major objectives that are presented in chronological order according to the project schedule:
Objective 1: Exploiting ISS data on biocontamination of wet systems and materials, from recent and past projects, for a complete and exhaustive biocontamination control systems requirement definition and conceptual design.
Objective 2: Designing and developing functioning compact biocontamination prevention, monitoring and mitigation Modules, advancing their TRL.
Objective 3: Building an integrated modular System, enabling biocontamination control of potable water systems (fully automated) and humid areas (semi-automated) in space and in the field.
Objective 4: Demonstrating performances, operational techniques and processes in laboratory and field environments, and designing a Flight Demonstrator for on-board validation of critical technologies.
Objective 5: Actively leveraging synergies between space and non-space partners, and exploiting the biocontamination control developments in actual space programs and terrestrial applications.
