Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars ECLSS Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability (DEMETER): A Proposed Human-Mars Precursor Bioregenerative ECLSS Technology Demonstration Mission

Dynamic Ecosystems for Mars ECLSS Testing, Evaluation, and Reliability (DEMETER) is a proposed uncrewed advanced science mission and technology demonstration targeting launch in the early 2040s, to showcase the operation of a novel bioregenerative, aquatic plant-based, life support system capable of simultaneously converting carbon dioxide into oxygen, remediating wastewater, and closing nutrient cycles by producing food from human metabolic waste on the Martian surface. This proposed two-year mission would demonstrate the successful transfer of plants to Mars, the propagation of plants in an enclosed capsule on the Martian surface, the assimilation of Martian carbon dioxide into edible biomass while concurrently producing oxygen, and the phytoremediation of simulated gray and black wastewater in preparation for the full use of this biological life support system (BLSS) in conjunction with crewed missions to Mars.