Balance Of Life And The Space Age

what [Music] what do men and animals need to stay alive one important need is oxygen there is oxygen in the air we breathe food is another need animals and men get food from plants or they may get food from other animals which in turn eat plants a third basic need is water water food and oxygen these are the things men and animals need in order to live all of them are generously supplied Us by the earth and the atmosphere around it but now man has found a way to leave the astronauts journey into space away from the Earth his natural home an astronaut will not find the things he needs to live to keep alive in space he must take with him all of the oxygen food and water his body will require and the length of his journey will be limited by the amount of these Necessities his spaceship will carry but if man is to explore the distant planets if he is to build a base on the moon he will need much larger supplies of oxygen food and water than he can hope to carry from the Earth is there any way that life Necessities can be supplied to an astronaut for a space journey lasting several months or perhaps years we may find an answer if we understand how these basic necessities are provided on Earth let's examine one small part of the Earth's surface a freshwater Pond the fish that live in the pond like other animals must have food water and oxygen in order to stay alive they find these Necessities in the pond an important source of food for these fish are the green plants that live in the water plants also produce oxygen in bright sunlight bubbles of oxygen can be seen on their leaves or rising from them the brighter the light the more oxygen they [Music] produce light is needed by plants plants also need a gas called carbon dioxide in the pond plants can get carbon dioxide from the fish fish take in the oxygen given off by the plants their gills separate the oxygen from the water and as the fish use the oxygen they give off carbon dioxide the plants in turn use the carbon dioxide to grow forming more oxygen and more food for the fish so the process is repeated indefinitely a kind of circle or cycle in which plant supports animal and animal supports plant such a community of living things each depending upon the other is called a balanced [Music] system we too are a part of a balanced system all the living things on earth form a great and complex balance system animals give off carbon dioxide green plants use carbon dioxide to produce oxygen and many kinds of food on Earth plants and animals depend upon each other they support each other just as do the fish and the plants in the pond if we take a fish out of its Pond can we keep it alive we can as long as we give it the things it needs to live water oxygen and food as these are used up we can of course add more but can we instead create in the tank a balanced system that will work like the one in the pond green plants will grow in the tank given enough light they will supply the fish with food as the fish takes in oxygen it gives off carbon dioxide which the plants need to continue growing as the plants use the carbon dioxide they release oxygen needed by the fish with the proper balance between plants and animals the tank can even be closed up nothing more need be added plants and fish will supply for each other all the basic needs of life we have made a small balanced system can a balanced system be created to keep a man alive inside a spacecraft scientists in this laboratory believe it can they are experimenting with a water plant called florella florella plants are so tiny they can be seen only as a green color in the water if the water is removed a green paste remains oxygen bubbles from it if we examine a bit of this paste under a mic microscope we can see that it is made of tiny individual clella plants millions of these can live in a test tube like all green plants they require light in order to grow in a spaceship or on a moon base chorella could be grown in tremendous numbers since they are green plants they need carbon dioxide they give off oxygen men need oxygen they breathe out carbon dioxide by placing a man in a sealed chamber scientists can find out the amount of chlorella needed to supply enough oxygen to keep the man alive and they can find out whether the man breathes out enough carbon dioxide to keep the plants alive scientists have also found that chlorella can be made into a nourishing food they have made Chlorella flour from this several kinds of food have been prepared tests have shown that chlorella muffins are not only healthful but good tasting as well so by using a plant like chorella it may be possible to create a balanced system that will keep an astronaut alive in a space for long periods of [Music] time just as the fish can stay alive in its sealed aquarium so the further exploration of space depends in part upon our understanding of life on Earth and the great Balan system of which we are a part and upon which all life depends