As NASA prepares to send astronauts further into the cosmos than ever
before, the agency aims to upgrade production of a critical fuel source:
food. Giving future explorers the technology to produce nutritious, tasty,
and satisfying meals on long-duration space missions will give them the
energy required to uncover the great unknown.
In coordination with the Canadian Space Agency, NASA is calling on the
public to help develop innovative and sustainable food production
technologies or systems that require minimal resources and produce minimal
waste. Dubbed the Deep Space Food Challenge, the competition calls on teams
to design, build, and demonstrate prototypes of food production technologies
that provide tangible nutritional products - or food.
Over time, food loses its nutritional value. That means for a multi-year
mission to Mars, bringing along pre-packaged food will not meet all the
needs for maintaining astronaut health. Additionally, food insecurity is a
significant, chronic problem on Earth in both urban and rural communities.
Disasters that disrupt supply chains further aggravate food shortages.
Developing compact and innovative advanced food system solutions through
initiatives such as the Deep Space Food Challenge could have applications in
home and community-based local food production, providing new solutions for
humanitarian responses to floods and droughts, and new technologies for
rapid deployment following disasters.
"Feeding astronauts over long periods within the constraints of space travel
will require innovative solutions," said Jim Reuter, associate administrator
for NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s headquarters
in Washington. "Pushing the boundaries of food technology will keep future
explorers healthy and could even help feed people here at home."
In October 2021, Phase 1 of the challenge culminated as NASA awarded 18
teams a total of $450,000 for their concepts for innovative food production
technology that produces safe, acceptable, palatable, nutritious food
products that are stable and high quality, while minimizing necessary
resource inputs. NASA and the Canadian Space Agency jointly recognized 10
international teams for their winning submissions. NASA’s supporting partner
of the challenge, the Methuselah Foundation, sponsored two $25,000 awards to
international teams for their outstanding innovation. The Canadian Space
Agency awarded 10 teams $30,000 CAD each to their winning teams.
NASA now invites both new and existing teams to enter Phase 2, which will
require teams to build and demonstrate prototypes of their designs and
produce food for judging. Interested participants from the United States can
compete in Phase 2 for part of a prize purse up to $1 million.
“We are excited to continue collaborating with the Canadian Space Agency to
conduct the next phase of this challenge and identify solutions from across
the globe," said Reuter.
The Competition
The Deep Space Food Challenge asks competitors to create a food production
technology, system, or approach that could potentially be integrated into a
complete food system to sustain a crew of four on a three-year deep space
mission. Everything needed to store, prepare and deliver food to the crew,
including production, processing, transport, consumption, and disposal of
waste should be considered. Proposed technologies such as plant growth
systems, manufactured food products, and ready-to-eat solutions combined
could provide the future crews with a variety of options that would provide
the needed daily nutrition.
In Phase 1, NASA’s judges grouped U.S. submissions based on the food they
envisioned producing. Among the designs were a variety of systems that
ranged from complex to very simple. Teams proposed technologies to produce
ready-to-eat foods such as bread, as well as dehydrated powders that could
be processed into food products. Other technologies involved cultivated
plants and fungi or engineered food such as cultured meat cells, all of
which could be grown or produced by the crew on deep space missions. Details
about the winning submissions and teams can be found on the challenge
website.
All teams involved in Phase 1 of the challenge met the registration
requirements to enter Phase 2. New teams are welcomed and highly encouraged
to participate after providing the required registration information, due by
February 28. Interested participants from the United States can compete for
part of a prize purse of up to $1 million from NASA. The Canadian Space
Agency is hosting a parallel competition with a separate application and
judging process, as well as its own prize purse, for participating Canadian
teams. Qualifying teams from other countries may compete but will not be
eligible for monetary prizes.
The Deep Space Food Challenge is a NASA Centennial Challenge. Centennial
Challenges are part of the Prizes, Challenges, and Crowdsourcing program
within NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s
Headquarters in Washington and are managed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Subject matter experts at NASA’s Johnson
Space Center in Houston and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida support
the competition. NASA, in partnership with the Methuselah Foundation,
manages the U.S. and international Deep Space Food Challenge competition.
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Space & Astrophysics