Producing Space Foods for Astronauts
Astronauts in space will soon be dining on lasagna, crawfish touffe, teriyaki beef steak, and other food items made at Texas A&M.
Developing tastier and more nutritious foods is the goal of a new research and production partnership on the Texas A&M University campus. The Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, WyIe Laboratories, and NASA announced plans for the venture that will produce ready-to-eat foods for future space flight missions. More than 30 food items will be produced in College Station for the astronauts.
A food sterilization system at the National Center for Electron Beam Food Research, an Experiment Station research component at Texas A&M, will help scientists discover new methods of minimizing nutrition losses during processing.
A variety of high-quality packaged meals will also be produced for extended space missions, researchers say. Food produced in College Station will be used on the International Space Station and throughout NASA’s human spaceflight program.
"The science used in this research could very well be transferred into new food production techniques, ensuring a safer food supply for consumers," says Elsa Murano, Experiment Station director and vice chancellor for agriculture and life sciences at Texas A&M.
A commercial retort system will help produce the thermostabilized food, which unlike traditional freezedried foods already contains water. The retort system removes pathogens so the packaged food is sterile and can be used over a long period of time.
"All the astronauts have to do it is heat it up," says Lori Neish, a NASA-WyIe Laboratories food seientist who will be working on the research project in College Station. "That’s important for the International Space Station and long-duration missions. The astronauts tend to get tired of the texture of freeze-dried items. The thermostabilized items they do not (grow tired of) and tend to add variety."
NASA’s menus include 200 different foods and beverages used aboard space flights; about 40 percent are thermostabilized items. The food will be processed from start to finish in College Station, then sent to NASA before heading into space. At meal times, astronauts will place the food in a "suitcase warmer."
"Imagine a suitcase that has a heat plate on both sides," Neish says. "You put a pouch (of food) in there and wait five to 10 minutes until heated and pull it out."
For more information, contact Murano, elsa.murano@tamu.edu.
Copyright American Society of Agricultural Engineers Apr 2007