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Award

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Pro-WASH - Produce Wash and Aeration for Space Habitats

Awardee

SPACE LAB TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

5455 SPINE RD STE ME
BOULDER, CO, 80301-3312
USA

Award Year: 2018

UEI: WDXTJ9AHNZ68

HUBZone Owned: No

Woman Owned: No

Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: Yes

Congressional District: 2

Tagged as:

SBIR

Phase I

Seal of the Agency: NASA

Awarding Agency

NASA

Total Award Amount: $124,981

Contract Number: 80NSSC18P1951

Agency Tracking Number: 182922

Solicitation Topic Code: H12

Solicitation Number: SBIR_18_P1

Abstract

Initial space food crops will be “pick-and-eat”, requiring produce disinfection on board spacecraft. The state of the art disinfection method on the ISS is Pro-San® wipes developed by Microcide, Inc. This method is not regenerable, requiring resupply mass, creating solid waste, and requiring crew time to manually clean vegetables. Also, wipes cannot easily disinfect produce with a lot of crevices, such as leafy vegetables or radishes. Other disinfection methods investigated by researchers have included hydrogen peroxide and cold plasma, which both negatively impact food quality. Chemical methods that produce toxic by-products or residues on the produce are unacceptable solutions. UV for disinfection is also problematic, as light does not easily penetrate crevices in the produce surface. Space Lab Technologies, LLC proposes Produce Wash and Aeration for Space Habitats (Pro-WASH™), a hybrid ozonating and Pro-San® water wash system for on-board produce disinfection. Pro-Wash™ offers several innovative features relative to state-of-the-art. It is an autonomous and versatile. It not only disinfects, but also optionally rinses, steams, and dehydrates produce. A gently spinning, grated wash basket increases the contact of wash fluid with vegetable surfaces and crevices. An ozone generator diffuses safe levels of re-generable ozone into the wash-water stream for disinfection without noticeable reduction in food quality. Optionally, a Pro-San® wash water solution provides an alternate disinfection method. A self-cleaning mode reduces crew time needed for maintenance and increases long term reliability. Pro-WASH™ operates across gravity regimes (0-1 g). Finally, the design is extensible to disinfection of non-produce items, such as utensils, toothbrushes, laundry, etc. In Phase I, Space Lab will combine conceptual design and analysis with prototype development and testing to establish technical and economic feasibility for produce disinfection with Pro-WASH™.

Award Schedule

  1. 2018
    Solicitation Year

  2. 2018
    Award Year

  3. July 27, 2018
    Award Start Date

  4. February 15, 2019
    Award End Date

Principal Investigator

Name: Christine Escobar
Phone: (720) 309-8475
Email: chris@spacelabtech.com

Business Contact

Name: Christine Escobar
Phone: (720) 309-8475
Email: chris@spacelabtech.com

Research Institution

Name: N/A