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It is a vegetarian salad that researchers at ACS Food Science and Technology have designed for male astronauts’ who go on longer space missions. The “perfect space meal” was designed as the space agencies plan for longer missions grapple with “the challenge of how to best feed people”, as per a statement from the American Chemical Society.
This means can also be grown in space, it added. “Now, researchers reporting in ACS Food Science and Technology have designed the optimal ‘space meal’: a tasty vegetarian salad. They chose fresh ingredients that meet male astronauts’ specialised nutritional needs and can be grown in space,” the statement read.
The researchers plan to see in the future what their computer model dishes up as options for female astronauts and expand the variety of crops in their database.
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Why is there a need for a ‘perfect’ space meal?
The American Chemical Society noted that astronauts in space burn more calories than humans on Earth. They “require extra micronutrients, such as calcium, to stay healthy during extended exposure to microgravity,” it added.
Moreover, astronauts are working towards food sustainability in space. Future long-term missions will require growing food in a sustainable, circular way within the spacecraft or space colonies.
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“While researchers have explored methods of growing food in space and what nutrients astronauts require to stay healthy, specific fresh meals have not been developed,” the statement said.
That’s why, researchers wanted to “optimise a space meal that meets those unique requirements of spaceflight and tastes good”.
What is the ‘tasty’ space meal made up of?
Researchers found that a vegetarian meal made up of soybeans, poppy seeds, barley, kale, peanuts, sweet potato and/or sunflower seeds provided the most efficient balance of maximal nutrients and minimal farming inputs.
“While this combination couldn’t quite provide all the micronutrients an astronaut needs, those missing could be added in a supplement,” the researchers suggest.
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To ensure that the identified combination was tasty, the team whipped up the ideal space meal as a salad for four people to taste test here on Earth.
How did they make the optimal space meal?
First, the researchers assessed combinations of fresh ingredients, using a method called linear programming. “In this case, their model identified how well the combinations of different foods could meet a male astronaut’s daily nutritional needs while minimizing the water required to grow the foods,” the ACS’ statement read.
The team also kept in mind the sustainability of the foods in space, selecting ingredients that needed little fertilizer, time and area to grow and whether inedible portions could be recycled.
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Published: 05 Jan 2024, 09:06 PM IST
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