For the first astronauts to visit Mars, what to eat on their 3-year mission will be one of the most critical questions. It’s not just a matter of taste. According to one recent estimate, a crew of six would require an estimated 10,000 kilograms of food for the trip. NASA—which plans to send people to Mars within 2 decades—could stuff a spacecraft with prepackaged meals and launch additional supplies to the Red Planet in advance for the voyage home. But even that wouldn’t completely solve the problem. Micronutrients, including many vitamins, break down over months and will need to be synthesized en route. And food isn’t just a source of calories, says Jennifer Fogarty, chief science officer at the Translational Research Institute for Space Health at Baylor College of Medicine. Taste, texture, freshness, and other factors all play major roles in maintaining our well-being. Simple survival “is not the goal,” Fogarty says. Today’s preserved food system, she concludes, “is completely inadequate for a Mars mission.” Robert Jinkerson, a chemical engineer at the University of California (UC), Riverside, thinks the answer is for astronauts to grow their own on-board garden—in the dark, with plant growth fueled by artificial nutrients rather than sunlight. It won’t be easy; after all, plants evolved for hundreds of millions of years to extract energy from sunlight. But Jinkerson believes it can be done by reawakening metabolic pathways plants already possess—the same ones that power the germination of seeds buried in the ground and then shut off once a seedling’s leaves start to reach for the Sun. In his vision of the future, electricity from solar panels could transform water and carbon dioxide (CO2) exhaled by a spacecraft’s crew into simple, energy-rich hydrocarbons that genetically modified plants could use to grow—even in the darkness of space or the dim light on Mars, which receives less than half as much sunlight as Earth. His team has already shown that modified plants can survive, if not yet thrive, on a light-free regimen. If the UC Riverside researchers can get them to flourish, Jinkerson believes they’ll be on a path to not only feeding astronauts, but also growing a wide variety of crops on Earth without land and abundant sunshine. “It could be implemented in places like the South Pole, in places where agriculture is not possible,” says Jinkerson, whose team has already won two rounds of a NASA competition. Others have tried to wean plants from light, and there’s a reason why decades of attempts haven’t worked. “They need light for everything,” says Sue Rhee, a plant biologist at Carnegie Science. Light plays a role not just in photosynthesis, but also in germination, growth, flowering, and the ripening of fruit. But she thinks Jinkerson’s vision is “bold” and worth trying, because it involves a combination of genetic tweaks and added nutrients that haven’t been tried before. Patrick Shih, a plant molecular biologist at UC Berkeley, agrees. “They are trying to rethink how we do agriculture,” Shih says. “It’s a really out-of-the-box way of looking at it, which is refreshing.”
There's not much easier to grow than algae... and not much will recycle everything from the human waste as efficiently as algae. Growing complex plants should definitely be a goal to improve morale and probably proper nutrition... everyone will do everything better if they don't have to have green sludge for every meal... but travelers to Mars would probably do better if they develop a taste for green algae sludge. Biofilm too. yum.
I doubt anyone would fancy eating algae for 3 years in space. There's different aspects to this imo. On the one hand, I find this sort of stuff interesting, where humans break boundaries that'll not only benefit things like space travel, but also solve problems on Earth. But then on the other hand, there's the implications of what they might achieve, in effect playing with nature or even perverting nature. And added to that, the possible unknown medical effects. Having said that, I'm still interested to see if they can manage it. Just because it's never been done before. Mind you, I'd still fancy a greasy burger or a donner and chips with chilli sauce every now again if I was hurtling through space at a gazillion mph. What are they doing about that!
President to Secretary of State Why wasn't I told about Area 51 Secretary of State to the President Two words Mr President Plausible Deniability
Exactly my thoughts, if you are planning on being the first astronaut to Mars, you quite simply have to be prepared to die, because the chances will be very high that you will not be coming back.
Me neither... Although, I'm not going to put my name in the hat to go.... Algae and biofilm would be the most efficient, reliable and space saving method... But yeah, noone will want to eat that every day for years.
I’m calling you out fella ……so do please give some information fella……what data company blah blah and let’s have the figures yourself produced mr accolades man by the way we got a dame over here that made Astra vax made millions through shares and got the deaths and injury of thousands of people on her hands….don’t tell me about false accolades fella ….we got Boris gate as we speak in Britain I suggest you read up on it
I did think of using the same tbh, but I'm guessing the power to generate that level of lighting will be needed by the dilithium crystals to fly the starship.
You won't be able to make it back you old codger but 6 yrs there and back is like a backbacking trip round the far east for the yoof of today.
