What Will We Eat When We Get to Mars?

Of all the challenges faced by Mars-bound astronauts, cuisine might not seem particularly important. But the heady delight of going where none have gone before won't keep a diet of foil-wrapped protein pap from getting a bit tedious.

Michelle Perchonok, head of the Advanced Food Technology Project at the Johnson Space Center, is trying to devise tasty, nutritionally balanced that will stay fresh for five years and maintain its flavor when soaked in solar radiation. It's not easy.

The mission to Mars could launch as early as 2024. That doesn’t leave too much time for testing a recipe’s five-year staying power. So
Perchonok is using accelerated shelf-life tests to see which of 13
International Space Station menu items last the longest. She stores thermostabilized food packages at three different temperatures (40, 72
and 95 degrees F) in machines that resemble refrigerators. The warmer the temperature, the more accelerated its shelf-life test. Every four months or so she feeds some of the aged dishes to volunteer taste-testers recruited from the Johnson Space Center’s workforce.

The results? Rhubarb applesauce just passed the 24-month mark with flying colors. So far thermostabilized bread pudding, apricot cobbler and grilled pork chops are the only menu items known to age for five years and still taste good.

Mmmm. Pork chops.

And come to think of it, this is an interesting variation on the old desert island question: if you were going to spend a few years in space and could bring any one meal, what would it be?

Related Wired coverage here.

Mars Needs Lunchboxes [Inkling Magazine]