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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NASA Cooks Up New Chow for Mars Mission

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(Newser) – Of all the hurdles NASA must overcome in order to reach its goal of getting humans to Mars by 2030, keeping the astronauts fed may be one of the most challenging, the Los Angeles Times reports. The agency’s food scientist must devise meals that are light and nutritious and have a 5-year shelf life—much longer than any space-bound food has had to last before.

Typical freeze-drying isn’t feasible because reconstituting it requires water, which will be in short supply on the Mars mission. Instead, agency scientists are working with technologies that crush bacteria by subjecting the food to intense pressure, or incinerate them with a short blast of microwave radiation. NASA is even toying with growing fresh produce on board. "That would really add to the quality of life," a scientist says.

This image made available by NASA on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007, shows Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov preparing food in the galley of the international space station during a farewell ceremony for the crew members of space shuttle Endeavour, Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007.
This image made available by NASA on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007, shows Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov preparing food in the galley of the international space station during a farewell ceremony for the crew...   (AP Photo/NASA)
This image provided by NASA shows eight of ten astronauts and cosmonauts currently sharing work on the International Space Station share a mealtime on the Zvezda service module.
This image provided by NASA shows eight of ten astronauts and cosmonauts currently sharing work on the International Space Station share a mealtime on the Zvezda service module.   (AP Photo/NASA)
This photo released by NASA shows the crew from the shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station as they share a meal on the middeck of the Space Shuttle Discovery while docked with the International Space Station on Sunday June 8, 2008.
This photo released by NASA shows the crew from the shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station as they share a meal on the middeck of the Space Shuttle Discovery while docked with the International...   (AP Photo/NASA)
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We will get there, because we won't fly if we can't do it, and I don't want to be the person responsible for that. - Michele Perchonok, NASA's manager of advanced food technology

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4 comments
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riffran
Aug 13, 09 5:38 PM CDT
early version of the "generational" ship?..hmmmmm Reply
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Jes
Aug 13, 09 6:11 PM CDT
The idea of growing sounds best. Cloned meat/grown vegetables would be much easier than trying to "crush" bacteria. Reply
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Kookey90
Aug 14, 09 1:36 AM CDT
Hey, not a problem - MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat). We ate them in the desert and they last for years; unfortunately they constipate the heck out of you. That may be a blessing in disguise since they did have a problem with the latrine in the space station a while back. Reply
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bewilderbeast
Aug 14, 09 5:21 AM CDT
Um, hello-o. America will NOT be going to Mars in 2030. America will be getting used to the reality of being the 3rd or 4th biggest economy in the world and having to actually know more about THIS planet. Don't waste time or money on this chimera. Reply
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