Speaker
Description
The ISECG aims to realize the Mars manned space exploration mission in the 2030s. Since the duration of the Mars mission is assumed to be three years, a big concern is how to supply food for astronauts during the mission. The realization of space agriculture may be a solution for food supply problems in space. Understanding a moisture behavior in porous media under various small gravity conditions is indispensable to supply water to plants in space environments. It is reported that an imbibition rate in porous media in the ISS under microgravity was smaller than that of a horizontal infiltration experiment on the ground with 1G. It is suggested that changes in contact angle and the shape of pore throat may inhibit water transfer in porous media under microgravity. Surface tension, contact angle and pore throat shape strongly influence the two¬–phase flow in a porous medium. The COMSOL Multiphysics software was used for simulating hindered water movement under microgravity. The phase–field method was adopted to calculate energy in the system. We compared water movement in various shapes of pore throat between 1G and microgravity. We also conducted water imbibition experiments under microgravity with a parabolic flight. The results of this experiment will be discussed.
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