How do people eat in space? People on the International Space Station (ISS) cannot relax on a Friday by slowly eating KFC and popcorn. The question that arises is one: How does NASA plan to feed the astronauts who will head towards a possible mission to the planet Mars?
Food scientists Grace L Douglas, Sara R Zwart, Scott M Smith from NASA recently published a paper in the journal The Nutrition with details regarding the topic. They do not yet have all the answers, but they are in the process of identifying a solution to the main issues.
On the ISS, astronauts choose 20% of their food. The remaining 80% comes from a “shared, standard food set.” This food is provided via supply vehicles that bring fresh fruits and vegetables in addition to foods that can be stored long-term. This is literally not going to fly to Mars, so things will be more difficult.
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NASA's current strategy appears to focus on a series of core principles, building its food strategy around the following factors: safety, stability, taste, nutrition, resource minimization, variety, reliability and usability. Any food system that is created will likely require new devices ready for space.
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It appears that NASA will have to handle various issues. A food system must be reliable and people must receive an adequate amount of food so they do not starve. However, variety is also essential for several reasons – not only from a nutritional standpoint, but also for the crew's psychological health. There must be food on the spacecraft, for obvious reasons, but NASA seems to believe that food cultivation on the spacecraft will also be necessary. But what happens if the food suddenly stops growing?
To help solve the problem, NASA offers the amount of 500.000 $ through the “Deep Space Food Challenge”. Starting from January of the current year, NASA offers this huge cash amount to anyone who can create a system that will help with all the issues of astronauts' nutrition.
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And as many of the innovations that NASA has supported over the years, this could have extensive impacts on Earth: “Solutions from this challenge could allow new pathways for food production worldwide”, the website says. “Especially in extreme environments, areas lacking resources and in new places such as urban areas and in regions where disasters disrupt critical infrastructure.”
Information source: cnet.com
