Hale & Hearty: Scientists plan the perfect ‘space meal’ for long-term space tourists, astronauts

As space agencies prepare for extended missions to Mars, researchers from the US, the UK, Australia, and Spain have addressed the culinary challenge faced by astronauts on long space voyages. Published in the journal ACS Food Science & Technology under the title “Modeling of Space Crop-Based Dishes for Optimal Nutrient Delivery to Astronauts and Beyond on Earth,” the study presents an optimal “space meal” designed to provide both nutrition and flavour. Considering the recommendations of NASA, which outline up to 36 nutrients and 102 crops, the researchers focused on fresh ingredients tailored to meet the specialized nutritional needs of male astronauts. The result is a tasty vegetarian salad, featuring components that can be cultivated in space. Astronauts in space expend more calories than their Earthbound counterparts and require additional micronutrients, such as calcium, to maintain health in prolonged microgravity conditions. With future long-term missions necessitating sustainable food production within spacecraft or colonies, the researchers, led by Dr Volker Hessel from the University of Adelaide and the School of Engineering at the University of Warwick, aimed to optimize a space meal that fulfils nutritional requirements and is palatable. Employing linear programming, a computational method balancing various variables to achieve a specific goal, the researchers assessed combinations of fresh ingredients. Their model determined how well these combinations could meet a male astronaut’s daily nutritional needs while minimizing water consumption for cultivation. Sustainability was a key consideration, with an emphasis on ingredients requiring minimal fertilizer, time, and space to grow, and the potential recyclability of inedible portions. Among the ten scenarios examined, a vegetarian meal comprising soybeans, poppy seeds, barley, kale, peanuts, sweet potato, and/or sunflower seeds emerged as the most efficient balance of maximal nutrients and minimal farming inputs. While not providing all necessary micronutrients, the researchers propose supplementing the missing elements separately. To ensure the identified combination was not only nutritious but also tasty, the team created the ideal space meal as a salad and conducted taste tests on Earth with four participants. While one tester gave rave reviews, expressing a willingness to eat it throughout the week as an astronaut, others were more reserved in their praise, though they returned for second helpings. Looking ahead, the researchers plan to explore options for female astronauts and expand the variety of crops in their database based on computer model outputs. (With inputs from agencies)