BROOKLYN , NEW YORK — Inside one of the monolithic brick - trace warehouses at the Brooklyn Navy Yard , more than a dozen team position out a rather rummy display of food for thought samples . Whether it ’s a juicy meatball made from fungi , a pot of greens grown inside an ecosystem pod , or a wheel of soppy crust heated inside a graveness - defying gimmick , this eclectic menu could one day feed astronauts traveling to the Moon and beyond .
On Friday , NASAannouncedthe winners of the second phase angle of its Deep Space Food Challenge . The announcement took place during an event confine at the NYCxDESIGN Festival in New York , which showcased the work of the take part teams . In partnership with the Canadian Space Agency , the competition first called for novel food yield technologies in January 2021 and is now entering its third and final stage .
Eight team have been hand a check for $ 150,000 , and also their next challenge : scale these conception for the final frontier . The winning U.S. teams are : Air Company , Interstellar Lab , Kernel Deltech , Nolux , and SATED . Three international teams also made the cut : Enigma of the Cosmos from Australia , Mycorena from Sweden , and Solar Foods from Finland . The acquire squad will now contend for $ 1.5 million in full prizes for the third and concluding form .
The team from Insterstellar Lab showing off its Nutritional Closed-Loop Eco-Unit System, or NUCLEUS.Photo: NASA/Methuselah Foundation
“ The whole system is working very well , now we demand to adjust for a infinite environs , ” Barbara Belvisi , CEO of Interstellar Lab , one of the winning company which manufacture controlled - environs biofarms , told Gizmodo at the event . “ The whole purpose of the system is base on graveness , and now you ’re extend to get rid of gravity . ”
The Deep Space Food Challenge draws on innovators in the food for thought production industry to come up up with solution to one of space travel ’s most pressing concerns : feeding the astronaut . NASA require to send its astronaut farther than they ’ve ever run low before , potentially coif up future habitats on the Moon and perhaps even on Mars . The food that astronauts bank on today , however , commence to degrade after around a year and a one-half . Just sire to Mars would take about seven months , according toNASA .
“ The prepackaged food that we have now that we ’ll be able to take with us to an extent , that ’s live on to provide the bulk of all the nutrition they need , ” Ralph Fritsche , elderly task managing director for space crop output at NASA ’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida , say Gizmodo . “ And so we ’re of course adjudicate to make up for that shortage … and at the same time , trying to add up variety to the diet . ”
The team from Kernel Deltech crafted cheese using fermented fungi.Photo: Passant Rabie/Gizmodo
Scaling down for space
The majority of the participating teams have viable , ferment food production system on Earth have in mind to address issues relate to food sustainability . Those same solution to challenge lay by climate change on Earth could also be feasible for a microgravity surroundings or a terrene home ground on an alien world , since they address concerns like water scarceness . “ We ’re looking at controlled environs agriculture , vertical agriculture , and that ’s all about how do I maximise a certain amount of volume to spring up edible biomass , ” Fritsche said . “ And that ’s what we need to do when we get to the Moon . ”
The phase three finalists include the Brooklyn - base Air Company , which developed a organisation for turn air , piddle , electrical energy , and barm into food . The idea is to take the C dioxide exhaled by astronauts , blend it with H produced by piss electrolysis ( which is where all the atomic number 8 is bring out on board the International Space Station ( ISS ) ) , plough that into a broth that contains intoxicant and urine , and feed that water to barm for it to produce and make bread , for example .
“ We ’re really eager to see what phase three looks like to see if we can actually get poppycock into space , ” Stafford Sheehan , Centennial State - founder of Air Company , told Gizmodo . “ This is all like the terra firma test , hit trusted it works here on Earth . ”
The team from SATED utilized a spinning cooking appliance to prevent food from floating around, enabling them to prepare a hot meal using ingredients with a long shelf life.Photo: Passant Rabie/Gizmodo
Another troupe , Florida - establish Kernel Deltech created a gadget that uses fungi fermentation to create flora - based food for thought in different forms , like cheese or chicken nuggets , for astronauts on farseeing - duration space missions . Pablo de León , the team lead for the company , explain that the whole was originally designed to solve issues of thirst in South America . “ We did an adjustment to be used in infinite and work up a automobile that will fit inside a standard rocket , ” he tell Gizmodo .
The compete teams may not have been thinking about outer space when they first develop their ideas , but they are now all rush along to bear witness that their concept can be applied in the great beyond .
“ infinite today seems to be like the ultimate challenge , ” Fritsche said . “ They ’ve proved their conception terrestrially , now they ’re learning about the challenge of spaceflight with microgravity and the radiation surround in thick space . ”
Interstellar’s NUCLEUS system, “a self-sustaining food production system yielding fresh greens, vegetables, mushrooms, and insects, which could provide nutrients for for long-term space missions,” according to NASA.Photo: Passant Rabie
NASA ’s Fritsche explain that some of the conception are more feasible for nigh - term applications , while other innovative musical theme could add up into work around 30 to 40 years from now . “ The challenge for us is that we have to figure out where can we introduce some of these conception and the hardware that goes into it , ” he said . “ We do n’t have that much space , that much power and all the other provision that you would need , so we ’re limited in that . ”
Food for comfort
At the same clip , some of the concept address a more obvious nutritionary need in terms of nutrient , while others utilize food as a form of comfort for cosmonaut on foresighted - duration missionary station . Colorado - based company SATED , for example , developed a infinite cookery appliance that would let cosmonaut to prepare a hot repast . The appliance has built - in heater and spins the ingredient in a circle at a high - upper like those dizzy zero - sombreness circus rides , which would prevent the food from flying off in space .
“ There ’s a behavioral health vista that food impart into it , and it ’s probably as important as the nutritional content , ” Fritsche pronounce . “ Especially for multitude working in uttermost environs on an exploration mission . ”
cosmonaut on card the ISS today savour a “ fair encompassing , various menu , ” harmonize to Fritsche . “ Supposedly it ’s fair enjoyable , ” he said . “ So I do n’t think that they ’re ache on what they ’re doing now , it ’s just keeping that nutrient fresh , secure , and nutritious after a year and a one-half is the challenge . ”
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