While space agencies have their eyes set on astronaut missions to the moon, Mars and beyond, there are quite a few hurdles in the way \u2014 and one of the biggest is food.<\/p>\n
As it stands, food is produced on Earth<\/a>, then transported to the International Space Station<\/a> (ISS). While that’s feasible for missions in low Earth orbit<\/a>, it’s impractical (costly at best, and technically unfeasible at worst) for more distant destinations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So the European Space Agency<\/a> (ESA) has launched project HOBI-WAN (“Hydrogen Oxidizing Bacteria In Weightlessness As a source of Nutrition”), part of the its Terrae Novae Exploration Programme, to test a powdered protein called Solein that can be manufactured in space with very few resources.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n “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,” Angelique Van Ombergen, ESA’s chief exploration scientist, said in a statement<\/a>. “For human beings to be able to implement long-duration missions on the moon<\/a>, or even one day to go to Mars<\/a>, will require innovative and sustainable solutions to be able to survive with limited supplies.”<\/p>\n Solein could be one such solution. It’s a highly versatile powdered protein from Finnish food technology company Solar Foods that’s made from microbes, air and electricity, via a gas fermentation process.<\/p>\n