Space Food and Nutrition in a Long Term Manned Mission

Abstract

Fulfillment of space exploration mission is key, but much more important are the lives of the explorers. Keeping the astronauts alive, jolly and healthy for long term manned mission has recently being a major and important research area. A major contribution seems to be the food they eat. For short term space manned missions, astronauts food could be taken along with them from Earth, but for manned missions to the Moon, Mars and Venus which are the current research destinations for long term space missions, they must find a means for their nutrition such as growing plants and finding any other alternatives for their survival. As most of these proposed missions have being designed to be one-way missions whereby the astronauts will not come back to the Earth. Good food and nutrition for astronauts help to keep their psychology and physiology in good shape. In this paper, solutions will be made on the various alternatives for feeding astronauts in the long term missions to various celestial bodies: Moon, Mars and Venus, where the atmosphere, gravity, soil, radiation and other conditions vary from one to the other and may not support germination, growth and development of plants. Therefore, review will be done on the following: having fore knowledge of how plants will grow on these celestial bodies by simulating their soils; using mathematical/theoretical models to get the growth rate of plants in relation to the gravity available on these celestial bodies using available data from terrestrial growth (1 g growth) and microgravity/microgravity simulations facilities; getting to know how the plants will be grown such as using greenhouse method as a result of the atmosphere and radiation in these celestial bodies; and other various alternatives for growing plants and having the astronauts well-nourished such as using aeroponics and hydroponics methods. A brief discussion will also be done on food choice for astronauts considering psychosocial and cultural factors.

Nutritional Orthopedics and Space Nutrition as Two Sides of the Same Coin: A Scoping Review

“…However, long-term persistence in space can generate new cultivars and ecotypes that are more resistant, as well as new subspecies and varieties with morphological advantages [ 65 ]. Common space-related constraints for aeroponic/hydroponic crops are the proper running of irrigation systems and nutrient pumping, air regeneration, water recycling, and the cultivation area [ 66 , 67 ]. All aspects should be integrated by innovative systems (e.g., the Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System or PONDS [ 21 ]).…”

“…This is probably due to nasal congestion (the bodily fluids move to the upper body [ 20 , 87 ]) or to the fact that aromas diffuse differently in the space environment. Novel packaging techniques should fulfill the needs of food preservation, sustainable use of space resources, and strategical area assignments (e.g., the area for meal socialization during homesickness) [ 67 , 88 , 89 ]. Altogether, the integrated activities among these facilities certainly lay the foundations for a successful mission into deep space.…”

“…Summary II. A total of 33 references ([ 7 , 10 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 27 , 45 , 46 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 73 , 76 , 77 , 79 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 ]) were used to scope the following nutritional commonalities between post-operative (hospital-based) vs. space station (planetary) issues. The use of single-serving prepackaged meals; the need to establish demand-driven systems that crosstalk and reduce food waste; the importance of guaranteeing food safety and human engagement throughout the process; the need to support the musculoskeletal health; the interest in some nutrients (i.e., proteins, calcium, iron, vitamin D); the need for boosting food flavors to increase appetite, palatability, hedonic appreciation, and food intake.…”

“…The science of Nutritional Orthopedics and Space Nutrition have individually investigated for years similar hostile environments, dealing with the aging orthopedic patient on Earth and the degenerative processes due to prolonged stay in space, respectively. Beyond the authoritative reviews on each topic that convey fundamental details [ 10 , 14 , 67 ], the purpose of this article was to show the broad spectra of the nutritional aspects that Orthopedics and Space Research have in common, focusing on the extent rather than detailed evidence. A total of 88 documents published in the last 70 years were identified, thus showing that each research field has much to share with the other.…”

Space Habitat Data Centers – For Future Computing

“…In addition, [36] note the increasing private sector in space supply provision and space mining. The applications in [36] exclude scientific experiments that focus on deriving knowledge from space related activities [37][38].…”