Outer space has incredible views but the food could use some work.
There’s a long and storied history of developing food for space travel. In the early days, astronauts ate and drank liquids and pastes out of tubes on short-duration flights. Over the last half-century, space menus have changed (although astronauts still drink Tang), featuring fresh vegetables and more Earth-like meals, but eating in space is still a challenge.
There’s an entire laboratory at Johnson Space Center, the Space Food Systems Laboratory, which is responsible for the development of spaceflight food, packaging, hardware, and more. Finding the right foods is critical to ensuring astronauts receive sufficient nutrition, but it also needs to be appetizing and enjoyable to consume. Food is about more than survival, eating is one of life’s great pleasures and it has a big impact on psychological well-being.
In low-Earth orbit, astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) rely on regular resupply missions to deliver food every couple of months, but for long-duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, we’re going to need other solutions. One of the biggest challenges for deep space missions is figuring out how to carry or grow enough food to keep astronauts alive.
Now, the European Space Agency (ESA) is testing a powdered protein called Solein that can be manufactured with just a few starting ingredients, including urea from astronaut urine.
How the ESA and Solar Foods are making astronaut food out of air and urine
Billed as “protein out of thin air,” Solein is made by Finnish food technology company Solar Foods. Unlike the plant and animal proteins we’re familiar with, this is a microbial protein made by growing an edible single-celled microbe through fermentation.
On Earth, the microbe is fed carbon dioxide, oxygen, and hydrogen and it transforms those gases into proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and vitamins, including all nine essential amino acids. After a growth period, the microbes are harvested and dried to create a protein powder.
The ESA is partnering with Solar Foods on the creation of HOBI-WAN (Hydrogen Oxidizing Bacteria in Weightlessness As a source of Nutrition), an experimental protein fermentation device intended for use in space. The ability to grow protein aboard a spacecraft, using readily available gases would be crucial for missions where resupply missions aren’t feasible.
“This project aims at developing a key resource which will allow us to improve human spaceflight’s autonomy, resilience and also the well-being of our astronauts,” ESA’s Chief exploration scientist Angelique Van Ombergen explained in a Nov. 3 statement. “For human beings to be able to implement long duration missions on the Moon, or even one day, to go to Mars, will require innovative and sustainable solutions to be able to survive with limited supplies. With this project, we the European Space Agency is developing a key capability for the future of space exploration.”
For HOBI-WAN, Solar Foods will spend the next eight months working in concert with the prime contractor, OHB System AG, to develop the technology to test Solein production aboard the ISS. Their existing processes need to be converted into a compact and autonomous system capable of fitting ina locker aboard the station.
Once in orbit, a bioreactor housing a bacterial culture will be fed gaseous hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide, supplied from storage tanks on the ship. Future versions of the bioreactor could even use recycled gases from the crew. Astronauts will also supply a little bit of nitrogen necessary for the fermentation process. In space they’ll use urea, the main nitrogen-containing compound found in the urine of mammals.
It’s also worth noting that the applications go beyond space exploration. Solein is also a potential future food source right here on Earth, providing protein and other nutrients without using farm land or additional resources. And you can rest easy, here on Earth they use ammonia instead of urea.
Experience the hardships of surviving in space on The Ark, streaming now on SYFY.