NASA Seeks Food Ideas for Astronauts on Mars, with Prizes of Rp. 7.2 Billion

Planet Mars. (Wikipedia/NASA)

Hitekno.com – Space bada NASA is currently developing concepts for a longer initial mission at Planet Mars.

Now NASA needs an innovative and sustainable food system to feed astronauts on Mars.

Scientist food Grace L Douglas, Sara R Zwart, and Scott M Smith of NASA, recently published a paper at The Journal of Nutrition, discusses in detail the topic of how NASA provides food for your mission to Mars.

On the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts can choose 20 percent of their own food.

Meanwhile, the remaining 80 percent comes from standard food sets.

The food is brought through the supply vehicle which carries fresh fruit and vegetables, in addition to food which can be stored longer.

However, this method will not work for Mars missions because the distance is too far.

NASA has core principles for building its food supply strategy, covering safety, stability, deliciousness, nutrition, resource minimization, variety, reliability, and usability.

Any food system created will likely also require new space-ready equipment.

In this regard, NASA faced a new problem. Experts believe that growing food on the spacecraft will also be necessary, but that comes at the expense of reliability.

Reporting from CNET, Tuesday (30/3/2021), but if there is only standard food, then it will not cover the variety of food.

To help solve the problem, NASA is offering a $ 500,000 reward in the Deep Space Food Challenge program, for anyone with an idea for a new food production technology or system that requires minimal resources, produces little waste, but nonetheless. safe, nutritious, and delicious.

Solutions to these challenges could open new avenues for food production around the world, especially in extreme environments, areas with limited resources, and in disaster areas.

This food idea challenge for astronauts begins in January 2021 and will end on July 30. (Suara.com/Lintang Siltya Utami)

– .