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PORTSIDE CULTURE

FARM TO LUNAR TABLE: HOW ASTRONAUTS ARE EATING TODAY  
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Kitty Greenwald
May 3, 2024
Saveur Magazine
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_ To prepare for upcoming years-long voyages, NASA has a new game
plan for getting fresh food to the moon and beyond. _

Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan dines weightlessly during the final Apollo
lunar landing mission., Hum Images/Universal Images Group via Getty
Images

 

Has farm-to-table gone lunar? Thanks to NASA’s Artemis program
[[link removed]], which launched when
an unmanned spaceship orbited the moon in 2022, the answer is yes. The
U.S. government agency has ushered in space travel’s next
frontier—one that will involve extended space stays and planetary
exploration. Next fall, Artemis II will send a crew of four into lunar
orbit for the first time since 1972. Though we’re accustomed to
humans on (or near) the moon, the upcoming mission will bring us
closer to Artemis’ bigger objective: establishing a space station
and lasting presence on the Earth’s only natural satellite. The base
will enable research and, ostensibly, serve as a launch pad for
deep-space travel. We’re talking Mars, Earthlings, and getting there
by blasting off of the moon’s surface. 

_MIT Technology Review_ says reaching Mars won’t happen in the
immediate future, but putting humans on the moon for weeks, months,
and beyond will happen by this decade’s end. As such, everything
that pertains to eating and nutrition in space now needs a re-think.
If the goal is Mars, reachable by a round-trip voyage of approximately
five years, then our current space food’s two- to three-year shelf
life won’t cut it. And, extending it is just the beginning.

Currently, aboard the International Space Station (ISS), food is
resupplied by cargo ships; occasionally, fresh fruit makes the trip,
which NASA’s Grace Douglas says is “always very popular.” This
is key: Satisfying primal cravings and fortifying a connection to
Earth is not only good for morale; it’s also good for performance
and mental health. The problem, Grace notes, arises when considering
the risks that fresh foods present—spoilage and susceptibility to
bacteria. Ensuring that astronauts stay healthy is paramount. 

So, since the current ISS model isn’t practical for getting food to
the moon (much less to Mars), the question NASA faces is: How to serve
astronauts both fresh and preserved food in an enclosed environment
far, far away?

Douglas summed up the big picture on “Houston We Have a Podcast”:
“If we’re going to start exploring and becoming more
Earth-independent, we need to start understanding how we produce the
foods and not just take foods with us.” While fresh lettuce and
tomatoes already grow aboard the ISS, they’re more science
experiment than salad supply. And since recent NASA studies
demonstrate that sustained periods without “satisfying sensory
experiences” (i.e., good food that tastes and smells enticing) is
detrimental, the push for fresh ingredients is scientifically backed.
Of course it is. Imagine, traveling for a year-plus and seeing no
light, no civilization, no loved ones. Now, consider the joy of
peeling and eating an orange... 

Teasel Muir-Harmony of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space
Museum [[link removed]] offers historical context.
“When astronauts returned from their Apollo missions,” she says,
“all had lost weight because they’d eaten about 30 percent of what
they were meant to.” There’s only so much processed food
one _wants_ to eat.

That said, space food has come a long way. And, Douglas added, it’s
an ongoing, International effort. Nine years ago, the Italian Space
Agency figured out how to brew proper espressos in space—a small
step toward bettering everyone’s morning routine. NASA has learned
that choice and variety matter and, Douglas added, “We take specific
requests into account.” For New York-bred astronaut Mike Massimino,
Michael’s bakery in Brooklyn made individually wrapped biscotti to
bring on his two missions. “I’m Italian,” he says. “Food’s
important.”

On Artemis II, Douglas says, astronauts won’t eat that differently
than they do on the ISS. But, NASA must adapt while remaining
ever-cautious: They don’t want a repeat of 1965’s “Corned Beef
Incident,” when astronaut John Young smuggled aboard a corned beef
sandwich [[link removed]].
Two hours into the mission he took a bite, and crumbs floated
everywhere. Back on Earth, alarm bells rang: What if an errant crumb
lodged into the machinery? Or an eye!? A congressional hearing ensued
and NASA committed to never again sending up illicit sandwiches.

Real-world applications will likely emerge from these culinary
obstacles. Assuming climate change leaves swaths of Earth blighted,
solutions for living in such inhospitable settings as the Moon can be
leveraged down here. It’s a silver lining no one saw coming, but
there is no denying that fresh food does us good—with or without
gravity.

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