Printable steak, insect protein, fungus among NASA space food idea winners

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 12:03:23 GMT
Space Daily

Washington DC (UPI) Oct 22, 2021 NASA has chosen 18 companies to continue developing space food...

NASA has chosen 18 companies to continue developing space food that astronauts could eat on long-term, Deep Space missions to Mars or other planets, such as 3D-printed steak and ingredients including insect protein, fungus and algae.

The space agency believes its ongoing Deep Space Food Challenge is vital to keeping astronauts healthy and in good spirits during long isolation.

NASA announced this week that more than a dozen organizations will receive $25,000 to keep working on space food solutions.

NASA has tried to focus on appetizing solutions for astronauts, but it also believes innovation requires new approaches, Ralph Fritsche, NASA senior project manager for space crop production, said in an interview.

"Some of our judges may have had some skepticism. But we've decided to open up space food development to many other groups to try and promote space innovation."

The 3D-printed space steak, for example, is proposed by an alliance of companies based in California known as Mission: Space Food.

"As we progress in human exploration and colonization of our solar system, space agencies and private companies will need to invest significantly in ... food production so eating in space can minimally depend on resupply from Earth," Shahreen Reza, co-founder of Mission: Space Food, said in an email.

The idea to mix fungus, algae and plants came from Cosmic Eats, a startup company in Cary, N.C. "Variety is very important on a long space journey, so anything that adds to variety is a big plus," Fritsche said.

Deep Space Entomoculture, of Somerville, Mass., which would use cells from insect tissue to grow more tissue so the final product would contain protein and fat from insect cells.

For NASA's Deep Space Food Challenge, students, chefs, small businesses, and others whipped up novel food technology designs to bring new solutions to the table.

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