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Abstract As renewed interest in human space-exploration intensifies, a coherent and modernized strategy for mission design and planning has become increasingly crucial. Biotechnology has emerged as a promising approach to increase resilience, flexibility, and efficiency of missions, by virtue of its ability to effectively utilize in situ resources and reclaim resources from waste streams. Here we outline four primary mission-classes on Moon and Mars that drive a staged and accretive biomanufacturing strategy. Each class requires a unique approach to integrate biomanufacturing into the existing mission-architecture and so faces unique challenges in technology development. These challenges stem directly from the resources available in a given mission-class—the degree to which feedstocks are derived from cargo and in situ resources—and the degree to which loop-closure is necessary. As mission duration and distance from Earth increase, the benefits of specialized, sustainable biomanufacturing processes also increase. Consequentially, we define specific design-scenarios and quantify the usefulness of in-space biomanufacturing, to guide techno-economics of space-missions. Especially materials emerged as a potentially pivotal target for biomanufacturing with large impact on up-mass cost. Subsequently, we outline the processes needed for development, testing, and deployment of requisite technologies. As space-related technology development often does, these advancements are likely to have profound implications for the creation of a resilient circular bioeconomy on Earth. 

There is a growing demand for hand-held and/or field-grade sensors for biochemical analysis of fluids. These systems have applications in monitoring of nitrogen-based compounds (such as nitrate and ammonia) in the wastewater treatment industry; bacterial detection in drinking water; analysis of biofluids, such as urine or blood; and in many other areas. Mid-infrared (midIR) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for identification and quantification of a wide range of common organic and inorganic compounds. Although IR radiation is strongly absorbed in water, this technology can be adapted for analysis of fluids by utilizing the principles of attenuated total reflection (ATR). In this contribution we highlight the application of IR spectroscopy in wastewater analysis as well as for metabolomic analysis in bioreactors. We discuss the requirements for IR signal stability that are necessary for biochemical analysis of fluids and provide examples of challenges encountered during transition from FTIR to a QCL-based platform. Overall, our stepwise efforts target eventual integration of a QCL light source, waveguide sensor, and IR detector onto a single photonic integrated circuit (PIC) for applications in the defense sector as well as for a broad consumer market. 

The increased interest in sequencing cyanobacterial genomes has allowed the identification of new homologs to both the N-terminal domain (NTD) and C-terminal domain (CTD) of the Orange Carotenoid Protein (OCP). The N-terminal domain homologs are known as Helical Carotenoid Proteins (HCPs). Although some of these paralogs have been reported to act as singlet oxygen quenchers, their distinct functional roles remain unclear. One of these paralogs (HCP2) exclusively binds canthaxanthin (CAN) and its crystal structure has been recently characterized. Its absorption spectrum is significantly red-shifted, in comparison to the protein in solution, due to a dimerization where the two carotenoids are closely placed, favoring an electronic coupling interaction. Both the crystal and solution spectra are red-shifted by more than 50 nm when compared to canthaxanthin in solution. Using molecular dynamics (MD) and quantum mechanical/molecular mechanical (QM/MM) studies of HCP2, we aim to simulate these shifts as well as obtain insight into the environmental and coupling effects of carotenoid–protein interactions.