How NASA's Space Food Lab Will Feed the Longest Journey in History | Freethink What it Takes

Space food isn’t just that astronaut ice cream you had as a kid. NASA’s kitchens are hard at work preparing a new menu of space food for the farthest trip in history - the flight to Mars. Subscribe: https://freeth.ink/youtube-subscribe-...

This space food is more advanced even than food on the International Space Station - it needs to last for five years, more than two years longer than it can currently. That’s enough time to get to Mars and back, and serve as an emergency backup while they try to grow food on Mars. Martian agriculture will be a staple of a future Mars colony, but its success isn’t exactly guaranteed to be smooth - after all, it’s our first time doing it. Since so much can go wrong, and deliveries from Earth will take years (as anyone who’s seen The Martian knows), it’s essential the food be safe and not spoil. Can this astronaut food do all that - and be delicious? That’s the task in front of NASA’s Food Lab. We interviewed Ryan Dowdy, the ISS Food Systems Manager at NASA; Grace Douglas, Advanced Food Technology Lead Scientist; and technician Lynette Calvert on their work designing new ways to feed the next generation of space exploration. They’re trying to not just feed make astronaut food that lasts - but keep astronauts happy while they do it.

It’s the latest episode of Freethink’s What it Takes, looking at weird jobs that make an impact and the curiously inclined people who do them. What meal would you like to eat in space? Let us know in the comments and check out our series The New Space Race, DIY Science, Coded and more!

For more stories profiling pioneers of science and tech innovation, subscribe to Freethink at    / freethinkmedia  

And follow Freethink across other platforms here:

Facebook:   / freethinkmedia  
Twitter:   / freethinkmedia  
Instagram:   / freethinkmedia  
Website: http://www.freethink.com