Did You Know Scientists are Already Planning the Meals for a Trip to Mars? See What’s on the Menu
- Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:00pm by
Liz Klimas
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Although astronaut food for a planned mission to Mars may include some traditional, freeze dried packages, scientists are developing other, tastier options. (Photo: Wikimedia)
HOUSTON (The Blaze/AP) — When many think of astronaut food, a brick of neapolitan ice cream is what they visualize. Most space missions require freeze-dried food with a shelf-life of about two years. But this could change for astronauts on a future mission to Mars.
Through a labyrinth of hallways deep inside a 1950s-era building that has housed research that dates back to the origins of U.S. space travel, a group of scientists in white coats is stirring, mixing, measuring, brushing and, most important, tasting the end result of their cooking.
Their mission: Build a menu for a planned journey to Mars in the 2030s.
The menu must sustain a group of six to eight astronauts, keep them healthy and happy and also offer a broad array of food. That’s no simple feat considering it will likely take six months to get to the Red Planet, astronauts will have to stay there 18 months and then it will take another six months to return to Earth. Imagine having to shop for a family’s three-year supply of groceries all at once and having enough meals planned in advance for that length of time.
“Mars is different just because it’s so far away,” said Maya Cooper, senior research scientist with Lockheed Martin who is leading the efforts to build the menu. “We don’t have the option to send a vehicle every six months and send more food as we do for International Space Station.”
Take a look inside the lab:
Astronauts who travel to the space station have a wide variety of food available to them, some 100 or so different options, in fact. But it is all pre-prepared and freeze-dried with a shelf life of at least two years. And while astronauts make up a panel that tastes the food and gives it a final OK on Earth before it blasts off, the lack of gravity means smell – and taste – is impaired. So the food is bland.
On Mars though, there is a little gravity, allowing NASA to consider significant changes to the current space menu. That‘s where Cooper’s team comes in. Travel to Mars opens the possibility that astronauts can do things like chop vegetables and do a little cooking of their own. Even though pressure levels are different than on Earth, scientists think it will be possible to boil water with a pressure cooker too.
Click through this slideshow to see some of the other options researchers are looking into:
One option Cooper and her staff are considering is having the astronauts care for a “Martian greenhouse.” They would have a variety of fruits and vegetables – from carrots to bell peppers – in a hydroponic solution, meaning they would be planted in mineral-laced water instead of soil. The astronauts would care for their garden and then use those ingredients, combined with others, such as nuts and spices brought from Earth, to prepare their meals.
“That menu is favorable because it allows the astronauts to actually have live plants that are growing, you have optimum nutrient delivery with fresh fruits and vegetables, and it actually allows them to have freedom of choice when they‘re actually cooking the menus because the food isn’t already pre-prepared into a particular recipe,” Cooper said.
The top priority is to ensure that the astronauts get the proper amount of nutrients, calories and minerals to maintain their physical health and performance for the life of the mission, Cooper said.
The menu must also ensure the psychological health of the astronauts, Cooper explained, noting studies have shown that eating certain foods – such as meatloaf and mashed potatoes or turkey on Thanksgiving – improve people’s mood and give them satisfaction. That “link to home” will be key to astronauts on the Mars mission, and there are currently two academic studies looking further into the connection between mood and food. Lacking certain vitamins or minerals can also harm the brain, she said.
Already, Cooper’s team of three has come up with about 100 recipes, all vegetarian because the astronauts will not have dairy or meat products available. It isn’t possible to preserve those products long enough to take to Mars – and bringing a cow on the mission is not an option, Cooper jokes.
To ensure the vegetarian diet packs the right amount of protein, the researchers are designing a variety of dishes that include tofu and nuts, including a Thai pizza that has no cheese but is covered with carrots, red peppers, mushrooms, scallions, peanuts and a homemade sauce that has a spicy kick.
To keep this menu going, and get the most out of any research about food sustainability on Mars, Cooper says it’s possible NASA will choose to have one astronaut solely dedicated to preparing the food – the Emeril of the Mars mission.
Still, since it remains unclear how much time mission planners will want to spend on food preparation, Cooper is also building an alternate pre-packaged menu, similar to how things are done for crews that do six-month stints on the International Space Station. For this option, though, the food will need to have a five-year shelf life compared with the two years available now. NASA, the Department of Defense and a variety of other agencies are researching ways to make that possible, Cooper said.
The ideal, though, would be to combine the two options.
“So they would have some fresh crop and some food that we would send from Earth,” Cooper said.
One of the biggest obstacles, at the moment, may be the budgetary constraints. President Barack Obama’s budget proposal in February canceled a joint US-European robotic mission to Mars in 2016, and the rest of NASA’s budget has also been chopped.
At the moment, Michele Perchonok, advanced food technology project scientist at NASA, said about $1 million on average is spent annually on researching and building the Mars menu. NASA’s overall budget in 2012 is more than $17 billion. She is hopeful that as the mission gets closer – about 10 to 15 years before launch – that the budget will grow, allowing for more in-depth, conclusive research.
The mission is important: It will give scientists the chance for unique research on everything from looking for other life forms and for the origin of life on Earth to the effects of partial gravity on bone loss. It also will let food scientists examine the question of sustainability. “How do we sustain the crew, 100 percent recycling of everything for that two and a half years?” Perchonok said.
But first things first: None of this will happen without food.
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electroniccomponents
Posted on July 24, 2012 at 1:09pmI wonder how much that pizza cost and how much she gets to make pizza?
Report Post »electroniccomponents
Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:56pmScientist are really turning out to be nothing anymore. Science doesnt seem to help society much anymore. The good news is they can cook though
Report Post »electroniccomponents
Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:32pmThis is by far the most important subject of the day. Planning on meals for mars is something I often ponder. I suppose planning on a space program to mars might come a few years down the road. Http://www.precisionlogicinc.net/parts Yeah why worry about a spaceship you can always build one after making the sandwich, and ice-cream. Nasa is practically gone and they are making menu’s?
Report Post »rdietz7
Posted on July 19, 2012 at 1:23amThis is important. There is so much in this article that should be read and thought about. From the to travel time to the hydroponic plants grown aboard the shuttle.
If you think man space travel is a wast of time and that we should focus all our concerns on a President and the economy. YOU ARE WRONG. In 2030 (when this mission will take place) we won’t even be thinking about the garbage going on around us.
Report Post »electroniccomponents
Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:49pmMaybe you havent noticed Obama gutted Nasa. If all they can do is make menu’s maybe someone needs to build the ship?
Report Post »Secret Squirrel
Posted on July 18, 2012 at 10:52am.
Report Post »Hello, congress!
Can’t figure how to cut a penny from the budget?
Start here.
Pretty soon we won’t be able to eat on Earth, and you’re catering Mars?
No brainer.
Derfel Cadarn
Posted on July 18, 2012 at 9:11amThey can plan all the meals they want. Until America has a booster rocket or other conveyance system to get men and large multiple payloads in space,we ain’t got ****. With the present state of government debt and the economy it is doubtful the fed/gov could a taxi let alone built a manned booster program.
Report Post »electroniccomponents
Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:43pmwell said. I totally agree. Nasa is closed down pretty much. Some of the brightest have moved on at least we kept the cooks though
Report Post »http://www.precisionlogicinc.net
Not having a rocket ship is just a tech matter. Food is far more important
Solexander
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 6:01pmI recommend practicing on our Moon first.
Furthermore, since we’re not fighting evil Martians, the notion of an all-female crew deserves consideration–if it’s really true that women get along better than men! (their biological requirements also run lower.)
Report Post »elosogrande
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 5:32pmSo! How much has this meal planning for Mars cost The American Taxpayer? Somebody has to tell these people – “It’s over! You all have to go out and find useful employment. There’s no need for this!”
The only reason for a trip to Mars, is the money our idiot politicians will piss away, PLANNING MEALS!
If politicians won’t stop searching for ways to spend money, we have to start searching for new politicians.
Report Post »stumpy68
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 10:21pmWe should sell it all to one of the companies that
Report Post »are trying to make money on space tourism / exploration privatize it and it will
at least have a chance.
thegreatcarnac
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 4:44pmForget about the trip to Mars. It will not happen. Obama is spending us into oblivion. We will be lucky if we can get out of the atmospere again.
Report Post »booger71
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 6:42pmBesides, since we have no space program, the Ruskies will have to launch the rocket.
Report Post »jnw325
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 4:41pmnothing but a waste of time and money
Report Post »IMCHRISTIAN
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:58pmDo they still make Mars Bars?
Report Post »MODEL82A1
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:44pmNow, obviously, I’m no Rocket Scientist, but wouldn’t a mission to Mars that required astronauts to feed require that NASA actually HAD a manned-space program? They don’t anymore, you know.
Report Post »mbean
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 4:42pm” a manned-space program? ” Exactly, and space ships capable of flight, not just the current giant firecrackers pointed at the sky.
Report Post »electroniccomponents
Posted on July 24, 2012 at 12:54pmHave no fear Chevy volt will build a rocket that will get to Mars on algae. Not only will algae be the fuel but it also makes a fantastic casserole. This is how bad it has become we have rocket scientist making diner menus.
Report Post »http://www.precisionlogicinc.net
I sure hope they find all the talent they lost at Nasa when the cuts happened. This program needs to be fixed right away. Stop making menu’s and start building rockets. please
Rayblue
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:37pmBring back preservatives.
Report Post »I don’t remember dying from them.
Of course I don’t remember like I used to either.
Tri-ox
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:35pmWell, considering that muslim-outreach is obamaNASA’s “primary mission”, I certainly hope that all meals will be ‘halal’, so as not to upset any muslim-enemy-astronauts or Mars-based terrorists.
Report Post »TheEDGE
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:32pmWith the dark storm clouds that are now gathering over our heads, I’d be surprised if mankind ever sets foot on the red planet.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:25pmI wonder what the Russians will charge us for the ride to Mars?
Report Post »Kankokage
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:31pmDepends on how much vodka the American can muleback without straining something.
Report Post »Kankokage
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:23pmI would bawl my eyes out if I could be the first person to step on Mars…and then I would break out the Martinelli’s and enjoy some sirloin marsala while watching the Martian sunset.
Report Post »jungle J
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:21pmmaybe they should spend some time on inventing a car that gets 100 miles per gllon….oh…their scientists. The insanity is miriad.
Report Post »TheJeffersonian
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 4:15pm*they’re and *myriad. Also, you should refrain from using words that you do not know how to use correctly (in case you still don’t get it, that’s not how you use “myriad”).
Report Post »historyguy48
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 3:19pmComrade why are they re-inventing the wheel? Mountain House has excellent freeze dried foods that have a shelf life of 25 years so what is the point of this?
Report Post »Oh yes, we need to spend tons of money doing what private industry did years ago. Sorry, I forgot that America is a rich country and without debt!
I am still selling that bridge in Brooklyn, interested?
IsThereADifference
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 4:34pmI was thinking the same thing. Our government is wasting money on this considering freeze dried food has been around for 50 years. These are not scientists. They are government funded jobs that don’t do anybody any good. Except for the useless retards who are cashing in by copying a 50 year old technology.
I really can’t wait to see the scientific results from that shrimp doing a workout on a treadmill. We are the greediest bunch of users in the world. There is nothing like getting paid for a job that is completely useless to anybody but yourself.
Report Post »historyguy48
Posted on July 17, 2012 at 9:31pmPerhaps Dear Leader would like to buy that bridge in Brooklyn, he’s willing to blow money everywhere else doing stupid!
Report Post »