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Astronaut Scott Kelly has spent more than 520 days in space.
POT
How do people eat in space? People from the International Space Station (ISS) can’t go to KFC for chicken and popcorn on a loose Friday night. And last time I checked, Uber Eats does not deliver to Mars.
Which begs the question: How does NASA plan to feed astronauts heading on a possible mission to Mars?
I’m glad you asked. NASA food scientists Grace L Douglas, Sara R Zwart, Scott M Smith recently published an article in The Journal of Nutrition detailing the topic. They don’t have all the answers yet, but they are in the process of identifying the main problems.
On the ISS, astronauts can choose 20% of their food. The remaining 80% comes from a “standard set of shared foods.” This meal is carried through replenishment vehicles that bring in fresh fruits and vegetables in addition to food that can be stored for the longer term. That is literally not going to fly for a mission to Mars, so things will be more challenging.
NASA’s current strategy seems to focus on a number of basic principles and build its food strategy around them: safety, stability, palatability, nutrition, resource minimization, variety, reliability, and usability. Any food system created will likely also require new space-ready appliances.
It looks like NASA will be juggling a number of different issues. A food system must be reliable, obviously, or people can starve, but variety is key for a number of reasons, not just nutritionally speaking, but for the psychological health of the crew on board. It is necessary to bring food on board, for obvious reasons, but NASA seems to believe that it will also be necessary to grow food on the ship. However, when that happens, you sacrifice reliability. What happens if the food stops growing?
To help solve the problem, NASA is offering a $ 500,000 reward through its “Deep Space Food Challenge.” Starting in January of this year, NASA is offering that pile of cash to anyone who can create a system that helps navigate all the long-term astronaut eating problems.
And like many of the innovations NASA has sponsored over the years, this one could have a far-reaching impact on the humans left on Earth: “Solutions to this challenge could enable new avenues for food production. all over the world, “the website reads. especially in extreme environments, resource-poor regions and in new places like urban areas and in places where disasters disrupt critical infrastructure. “
Any ideas?
