MELiSSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative)

MELiSSA is the European project of circular life support systems, established to research food, water, and oxygen production from mission wastes (CO2 and minerals) by microorganisms, using light as an energy source. Through the project, organic and ceramic membranes have been created with holes 700 times finer than a strand of human hair, able to filter out unwanted compounds. MELiSSA seeks to perfect a self-sustaining life support system that could be flown in space in the future, supplying astronauts with all their food, water, and oxygen requirements (MELiSSA Foundation n.d.).