Stryker 1
Caitlin Stryker
Dr. Pike
NDFS 250
5 Dec 2013
Advancement of Food Systems for Mission to Mars
PART 1:
References
Bourland C. 1993. The Development of Food Systems for Space. Trends Food Sci.Technol. 4(9):271-6.
More advanced/ sophisticated dining options available now to astronauts, still struggle with nt
value and preservation
Bourland C, Fohey M, Rapp R, Sauer R. 1982. Space-Shuttle Food Package Development. Food Technol.
36(9):38-43.
Describes journey and struggles associated with providing astronauts a variety of nt rich food
that is preserved for space travel
Bourland C, Heidelbaugh N, Huber C, Kiser P, Rowley D. 1974. Hazard Analysis of Clostridium-Perfringens
in Skylab Food System. J Milk Food Technol. 37(12):624-7.
Skylab: space station 197-1979, run by NASA, provided 72 different food items, big step and
improvements made in food tech. for space missions
Catauro PM, Perchonok MH. 2012. Assessment of the Long-Term Stability of Retort Pouch Foods to
Support Extended Duration Spaceflight. J.Food Sci. 77(1):S29-39.
3 yr test of 13 space food products to test shelf life, off colors or odors, browning through retort
process, low temp storage important
Cooper MR, Catauro P, Perchonok M. 2012. Development and evaluation of bioregenerative menus for
Mars habitat missions. Acta Astronaut. 81(2):555-62.
2 10 day menus prepared, more vegetarian, space farming, a little to heavy on carbs and fiber
for mission reqs. But taste was good
Cooper M, Douglas G, Perchonok M. 2011. Developing the NASA Food System for Long-Duration
Missions. J.Food Sci. 76(2):R40-8.
Requires good sensory evals, nt dense, safe to eat for 3-5 yrs for deep space flight w/o being too
heavy to ship out of Earth’s atmosphere
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Flentge R, Grim A, Doppelt F, Vanderve.Je. 1971. How Conventional Eating Methods were found Feasible
for Spacecraft. Food Technol. 25(1):51,&.
History of eating methods, bars and freeze drying to advanced sophisticated meals, SKYLAB
Fu B, Nelson P. 1994. Conditions and Constraints of Food-Processing In-Space. Food Technol.
48(9):113,&.
Zero gravity, limited resources (water, O2, etc), fragile temp balance, pressure, long term
storage
Jun S, Sastry S. 2007. Reusable pouch development for long term space missions: A 3D ohmic model for
verification of sterilization efficacy. J.Food Eng. 80(4):1199-205.
Reheating food on long term missions an issue, update about pouch which reheating electrodes,
2D to 3D model, potential cold spot problems
Olabi A, Lawless H, Hunter J, Levitsky D, Halpern B. 2002. The effect of microgravity and space flight on
the chemical senses. J.Food Sci. 67(2):468-78.
Two tests in microgravity showed no change in taste or smell, five did, upward shift of body
fluids to head, weakens olfactory senses
Perchonok MH, Cooper MR, Catauro PM. 2012. Mission to Mars: Food Production and Processing for the
Final Frontier. Annu.Rev.Food Sci.Technol. 3311-30.
Looking to advance from prepackaged food systems to bioregenative, decreases weight of craft,
potential to farm on surface of Mars!
Rambaut P, Smith M, Bourland C, Huber C, Heidelba.Nd. 1972. Some Flow Properties of Foods in Null
Gravity. Food Technol. 26(1):58,&.
Foams evenly dispersed, water/liquids float in beads (surface tension), potential cooking
problems if the farming/ bioregenerative plan is in effect
Somavat R, Kamonpatana P, Mohamed HMH, Sastry SK. 2012. Ohmic sterilization inside a multi-layered
laminate pouch for long-duration space missions. J.Food Eng. 112(3):134-43.
Redesigned pouch to evenly heat food and sterilize, strip heaters along with electrodes
Song BS, Han IJ, Kim JH, Kim JK, Park JH, Choi JI, Lee JW, Alexander A, Agaptseva T, Mark B. 2012. Shelf
Life Testing of Korean Space Foods. Ital.J.Food Sci. 24(4):165-9.
17 space foods sterilized by gamma rad, 51 day test, no effect on sensory qualities and
inactivated microorganisms
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Voit D, Santos M, Singh R. 2006. Development of a multipurpose fruit and vegetable processor for a
manned mission to Mars. J.Food Eng. 77(2):230-8.
Growing= need to process food, test of machines ability to make tomato concentrate, Pressure
and temp 2 most important factors for getting required Brix ratio
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PART 2:
On May 5th, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to travel in space and the second in
the world. A mere eight years later and the United States of America successfully landed a crew of two
men on the moon. The United States has since been seen as the foremost leader on space travel and
much advancement have been made since the first lunar landing. We are constantly looking to extend
our reach deeper and deeper into the mysteries of space. One of the prospective missions NASA has
been working on is a manned mission to Mars. This unprecedented exploration of the red planet would
require a good deal of food science to allow our astronauts a successful mission.
The idea came in 1971 with the Mariner 9 project, the first mission to orbit another planet,
which was in fact Mars. Having the confidence boost that a spacecraft could successfully reach the red
planet, plans began to be drawn up for a manned mission. But some important milestones would need
to be accomplished first. A lot of these were accomplished with the launch of the space station, Skylab.
It improved the basic food system of freeze-dried brick of food (Flentge) up to a much more
sophisticated level. It offered seventy-two different food items, heating tables that the astronauts could
stand at, and very safe food options (Bourland Hazard). It helped create new methods to allow
astronauts to eat and prepare food in a small, pressured, sensitive shuttle in zero gravity, which was a
difficult obstacle to overcome (Rambaut). This huge step for food technology and space travel led up to
other immense advancements towards a Mars mission.
The shuttle missions in the mid to late eighties helped solve a lot of basic issues regarding space
food quality and preservation. Taste panels were used to determine feasible options for missions and
studies revealed many things about how the human body perceives taste in a zero gravity environment
(Olabi). Short-term preservation for these missions was made possible typically through freeze-drying
methods (Bourland Development). This method required food to be sealed in hermetic containers,
typically vacuum-sealed pouches much like MREs used by the military (Bourland Space-Shuttle). The
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freeze-drying method allowed for astronauts to simply rehydrate their food with out having to deal with
a lot of complications zero gravity adds to food processing (Fu).
Fast forward into the 2000’s. A manned mission to mars is becoming more and more a feasible
operation. With the successful landings of both Mars rover Spirit (2004) and Opportunity (2007), the
manned mission proposal is reenergized by a discovery made by Spirit. When this rover got stuck in
some soft sand during a mission, it began to analyze the surrounding sand and the sample showed
evidence of a history of subsurface water on Mars. While the rover was unable to escape the sand, this
groundbreaking discovery allowed food scientists to alter the food system for the future Mars mission.
There is the possibility of growing crops on the surface of the red planet (Perchonok). Food scientists
immediately pounced on this idea of bioregenerative foods and drew up a menu and began testing
different possibilities (Cooper bioregenerative). If these options prove feasible, it could significantly
decrease the weight of the outgoing spacecraft and allow additional items to be packed up for Mars
(Cooper Developing).
This huge advancement has however created a new problem food scientists are continuing to
try and solve. Typically, foods used on spaceflights are irradiated to kill off or halt any harmful
microorganisms that may be present to ensure the astronauts remain healthy on their missions (Song).
Foods that are grown on the surface of Mars or other bioregenerative options would not be sterilized.
Food scientists have recently developed a machine to process various fruits and vegetable that are
grown out in deep space. This should allow the astronauts to have the flexibility to process these items
to their desires and also protect them from possible illness (Voit). Another obstacle is reheating these
grown foods. You cant exactly just cook with an open flame in a space craft and typically food is just
rehydrated using hot water. So how are astronauts supposed to heat up and sterilize food? Food
scientists have been working for many years to create a pouch that reheats foods using internal
electrodes and external strip heaters (Somavat). First attempts revealed issues with cold spots (Jun) but
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they have since successfully created a pouch that will be reusable for a whole mission that successfully
reheats food with little to no damage to quality and sensory aspects. Overall, a lot of progress has been
made towards providing food for a manned mission to Mars but we still have a long way to go.