Scientists planning food for 2 ½ years of space travel to Red Planet in the 2030s





However, there is a little gravity on Mars, allowing NASA to consider significant changes to the current space menu. That is 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. Although pressure levels are different from on Earth, scientists think it will be possible to boil water with a pressure cooker, too. One option Cooper and her staff in the Johnson Space Center in Houston 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 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 the astronauts get the proper amount of nutrients, calories and minerals to maintain 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. 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.


