As never happened before NASA is now sending their astronauts further into the cosmos, they aim to upgrade production of a critical fuel source that is Food. This would give the future explorers the technique to produce nutritious, tasty and satisfactory meals for long term space missions. This offers them the energy to uncover the great unknown. NASA in accordance with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), calls on the public to help and develop innovative and sustainable food production technologies or systems that require the minimum resources that produces minimal waste.
Over the time food loses its nutritional value, making it less edible for multi-year missions on Mars, even if you bring packaged food it still won’t meet the health requirements of the astronauts. Noting the fact that food insecurity is another significant factor on our planet in both rural and urban communities.
Deep Space Food Challenge- is the competition called on teams to design, build and demonstrate prototypes of food production technologies that provide tangible nutritional food. Quoting, Jim Reuter- “Feeding astronauts over long periods with the constraints of space travel will require innovative solutions”. In October 2021, Phase- 1 of the challenge began as NASA awarded 18 teams a sum of $450,000 for the concept of innovative food production and technology that produces safe, acceptable, eatable nutritious food products that are resistive and of high quality, with minimum of necessary resource inputs.
So now, NASA invites the already existing teams and new teams to enter Phase-2 which will require teams to build and demonstrate their designs and produce food that will be judged. The offer price of $1 million is for participants to compete with their innovative ideas of food production, for long term missions. The proposed solutions such as, Plant Growth Systems, Manufactured Food Products and Ready to Eat Food are combined to provide the future crew with better vivid options.
Phase-1, members met with the registration needs so as to enter Phase-2, and the new ones would be allowed till 28th February for doing the same. The challenge offers you enough motivation and hard-work to present your innovative ideas for producing food products for the astronauts to enjoy good food on their long term missions.
Deep Space Food Challenge is a NASA Centennial. Centennial challenge means it is a part of the prizes, challenges and the crowdsourcing program which NASA’S Space Technology Mission Directorate at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington and are managed by NASA’S Space Flight Centre in Huntsville.
Therefore, developing compact and innovative food system solutions through initiatives like the DSF Challenge might get responses from home and community based local food production, providing new solutions for basic humanitarian causes like floods and droughts.
