NASA builds menu for planned Mars mission in 2030s

HOUSTON — Through a labyrinth of hallways deep inside a 1960s-era building that has housed research that dates back to the early years 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."

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.

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 for 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.

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.

FULL STORY HERE.

wow. talk about super tang. i don't think it's possible right now to 'prepacklage' everything they will need, in terms of nutrients. they'll need a small, enclosed garden aboard if possible for fresh foods. even soemthing simple like bean sprouts. hopefully, the 'shuttle' taking them to mars will be fairly large. not like the shuttle to our current orbiting space station. interesting, but i sure wouldn't want to be among the first few batches of folks sent to mars this way. i'll wait until we master that tesseract thingy

XxAxX said:

wow. talk about super tang. i don't think it's possible right now to 'prepacklage' everything they will need, in terms of nutrients. they'll need a small, enclosed garden aboard if possible for fresh foods. even soemthing simple like bean sprouts. hopefully, the 'shuttle' taking them to mars will be fairly large. not like the shuttle to our current orbiting space station. interesting, but i sure wouldn't want to be among the first few batches of folks sent to mars this way. i'll wait until we master that tesseract thingy

That pizza looks kind a of good. Imagine the amount of space in the craft needed, and the water. I'll be old by then.

Can they grow plants while in space? I totally blanked on that. I know they'll grow things while they're there.

Maybe Cow has a few friends that'll like a trip to Mars.

XxAxX said:

wow. talk about super tang. i don't think it's possible right now to 'prepacklage' everything they will need, in terms of nutrients.

I would think for a couple years it would sustain them. But I doubt it's optimal. Same with living for that long in a reduced gravity.

The real question is, who will be the first couple to do it on Mars?

morningsong said:

That pizza looks kind a of good. Imagine the amount of space in the craft needed, and the water. I'll be old by then.

Can they grow plants while in space? I totally blanked on that. I know they'll grow things while they're there.

Maybe Cow has a few friends that'll like a trip to Mars.

The first Martian BBQ.

NDRU said:

XxAxX said:

wow. talk about super tang. i don't think it's possible right now to 'prepacklage' everything they will need, in terms of nutrients.

I would think for a couple years it would sustain them. But I doubt it's optimal. Same with living for that long in a reduced gravity.

The real question is, who will be the first couple to do it on Mars?

DO you think anyone's "done it" on the space station yet???

PurpleJedi said:

NDRU said:

I would think for a couple years it would sustain them. But I doubt it's optimal. Same with living for that long in a reduced gravity.

The real question is, who will be the first couple to do it on Mars?

DO you think anyone's "done it" on the space station yet???

aw heck, they'll be doing it in the spaceship. zero gravity, who could resist??

PurpleJedi said:

NDRU said:

I would think for a couple years it would sustain them. But I doubt it's optimal. Same with living for that long in a reduced gravity.

The real question is, who will be the first couple to do it on Mars?

DO you think anyone's "done it" on the space station yet???

I don't know. Do they have razors?

NDRU said:

PurpleJedi said:

DO you think anyone's "done it" on the space station yet???

I don't know. Do they have razors?

heh. um, 'razors'?

Wasn't grown there but it was sent to the ISS. Mood setting?

XxAxX said:

NDRU said:

I don't know. Do they have razors?

heh. um, 'razors'?

All I know is a bunch of Zach Galifanakis looking dudes are not getting lucky, no matter how lonely the women get!

NDRU said:

XxAxX said:

heh. um, 'razors'?

All I know is a bunch of Zach Galifanakis looking dudes are not getting lucky, no matter how lonely the women get!

Do I need to revive my "wolf man" thread???

NDRU said:

XxAxX said:

heh. um, 'razors'?

All I know is a bunch of Zach Galifanakis looking dudes are not getting lucky, no matter how lonely the women get!

ah!! gotcha!