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The United States has had human space flight programs for >50 y and has had a continued presence in space since 2000. Providing nutritious and safe food is imperative for astronauts because space travelers are totally dependent on launched food. Space flight research topics have included energy, protein, nutritional aspects of bone and muscle health, and vision issues related to 1-carbon metabolism. Research has shown that energy needs during flight are similar to energy needs on Earth. Low energy intakes affect protein turnover. The type of dietary protein is also important for bone health, plant-based protein being more efficacious than animal protein. Bone loss is greatly ameliorated with adequate intakes of energy and vitamin D, along with routine resistive exercise. Astronauts with lower plasma folate concentrations may be more susceptible to vision changes. Foods for space flight were developed initially by the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine in conjunction with the U.S. Army Natick Laboratories and NASA. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point safety standards were specifically developed for space feeding. Prepackaged foods for the International Space Station were originally high in sodium (5300 mg/d), but NASA has recently reformulated >90 foods to reduce sodium intake to 3000 mg/d. Food development has improved nutritional quality as well as safety and acceptability.

The development of space food has evolved from tubes and cubes to near Earth-like cuisine over the past 30 years. Improvements in the habitability of spacecraft have permitted notable progress in the development of space food. However, there are many unresolved problems related to space food such as nutritional requirements, the variety required, and methods of preservation for long-duration missions.

NASA-Johnson Space Center is designing and building a habitat (Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex, BIO-Plex) intended for evaluating advanced life support systems developed for long-duration missions to the Moon or Mars where all consumables will be recycled and reused. A food system based on raw products obtained from higher plants (such as soybeans, rice, and wheat) may be a central feature of a biologically based Advanced Life Support System. To convert raw crops to edible ingredients or food items, multipurpose processing equipment such as an extruder is ideal. Volatile compounds evolved during the manufacturing of these food products may accumulate and reach toxic levels. Additionally, off-odors often dissipated in open-air environments without consequence may cause significant discomfort in the BIO-Plex. Rice and defatted soy flours were adjusted to 16% moisture, and triplicate samples were extruded using a tabletop single-screw extruder. The extrudate was collected in specially designed Tedlar bags from which air samples could be extracted. The samples were analyzed by GC-MS with special emphasis on compounds with Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations (SMACs). Results showed a combination of alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, and carbonyl compounds in the different flours. Each compound and its SMAC value, as well as its impact on the air revitalization system, was discussed.

A meal is not a meal unless there’s soup. That's the Russian space program’s concept for space lunches and dinners. NASA has always included a few soups on the menu to provide space crews with some extra menu variety. However, when NASA’s food specialists began working with the Russian food specialists to develop menus for missions to the Mir space station, soups became a priority.

The time has come for humankind to return to the Moon and to start preparing to make the first manned voyages to Mars. NASA's 21st Century Space Policy calls for just those steps, but going to the Moon won't consist of Apollo-style flights (grab some rocks and go). Astronauts will go there to build a permanent base. Eventually, the same is planned to happen on Mars. Making this vision possible will be a new family of space vehicles that combine the best technology of the past with the best of the future. Looking like a Saturn V rocket on the launch pad, the Ares I rocket will launch the Orion capsule with as many as six astronauts to the ISS or four astronauts for flights to the Moon. The Ares V, a much beefier rocket, will carry heavy payloads into orbit. For Moon missions, Ares V will loft the Altair lunar lander and the Earth Departure Stage (EDS) into orbit. After rendezvousing with Orion, the EDS will propel Orion and the lander to the Moon.

It’s time to say more about that “Big Question” mentioned in the introduction. Lavatory facilities were absent in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo capsules. The first lavatory in an American spacecraft did not appear until the Skylab space station was launched in 1973, twenty-two years after Alan B. Shepherd rode the first Mercury capsule into space. Shepherd would have appreciated the lavatory. No provisions for going to the bathroom were made for his flight. The idea was to stuff him into the capsule, light the engines, and pluck him out of the ocean, all in less than an hour. It didn’t work out that way. Technical problems stretched Shepherd’s time on the launch pad to hours, and the coffee he had before suiting up didn’t seem like such a good idea to him after all. Ultimately, Shepherd, the first American astronaut to fly into space, did so in wet pants.

Astronauts are no different than the rest of us. Given a chance, they will graze all day. With hundreds of astronauts and support personnel in the Astronaut Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, someone is always having a birthday or special event. Astronauts are among the world’s most efficient hunters of cake and other snack foods. That shouldn’t be surprising. An astronaut’s day is packed with meetings, training exercises, proficiency flights in training jets, mission simulations, medical tests, and maintaining physical fitness. There is rarely time to sit down and enjoy meals.

Bread, one of the oldest and most popular of all commercially prepared foods, is a big problem for spaceflight. As mentioned before, there is the crumb problem. The crumbs go everywhere in microgravity. But keeping bread fresh and tasty enough for eating is the real challenge.

Food for manned space flight has been provided by NASA-Johnson Space Center since 1962. The various mission scenarios and space craft designs dictated the type of food preservation methodologies required to meet mission objectives. The preservation techniques used in space flight include freeze-dehydration, thermostabilization, irradiation, freezing and moisture adjustment. Innovative packaging material and techniques enhanced the shelf-stability of the food items. Future space voyages may include extended duration exploration missions requiring new packaging materials and advanced preservation techniques to meet mission goals of up to 5-year shelf-life foods.

In preparation for future planetary exploration, NASA-Johnson Space Center has developed a critical path plan for food and nutrition research needs. The plan highlights the risk factors pertaining to food and nutrition associated with exposure to the space flight environment as well as the possible consequences if no corrective measures are implemented. Included in the plan are the initiating events such as microgravity, remote environment and mission duration, which obviously impact the risk factors. The plan includes points of intervention where mitigating factors can be implemented to avoid outcomes such as malnutrition and unsafe foods. Physiological changes induced by lack of gravity, as well as increased exposure to radiation, may alter nutrient bio-availability, and/or nutrient requirements. An inadequate food system, whether due to technical limitations or nutritional shortcomings, can result in serious consequences. Additionally, microbial and chemical food contamination or psychological factors such as depression may lead to insufficient food intake. Critical questions define areas where further research is required to eliminate or ameliorate the risk from each of those factors. These questions delineate priorities for NASA food and nutrition research for planetary exploration missions.

This paper summarizes the specification requirements for the Space Station Food System, and describes the system that is being designed and developed to meet those requirements. Space Station Freedom will provide a mix of frozen, refrigerated, rehydratable, and shelf stable foods. The crew will pre-select preferred foods from an approved list, to the extent that proper nutrition balance is maintained. A galley with freezers, refrigerators, trash compactor, and combination microwave and convection ovens will improve crew efficiency and productivity during the long Space Station Freedom (SSF) missions.

Consumables for human spaceflight include oxygen, water, food and food packaging, personal hygiene items, and clothing. This paper deals with the requirements for food and water, and their impact on waste product generation. Just as urbanization of society has been made possible by improved food processing and packaging, manned spaceflight has benefitted from this technology. The downside of this technology is increased food package waste product. Since consumables make up a major portion of the vehicle onboard stowage and generate most of the waste products, selection of consumables is a very critical process. Food and package waste comprise the majority of the trash generated on the current shuttle orbiter missions. Plans for future missions must include accurate assessment of the waste products to be generated, and the methods for processing and disposing of these wastes.

The Space Shuttle's food system consists of food products preserved by dehydration, thermostabilization, irradiation, and moisture control. A preassembled standard menu is provided for each crew member. This is supplemented with a pantry food supply. In case of emergency, the pantry is a contingency food source, but on a nominal mission it can be used to supplement meals, and pantry items can be exchanged with standard meal items to accommodate individual food preferences. Shelf life, storage temperature, volume, and weight have been the primary factors considered in the development of the Shuttle food system.

A team of engineers and food scientists from NASA, the aerospace industry, food companies, and academia are defining the Space Station Food System. The team identified the system requirements based on an analysis of past and current space food systems, food systems from isolated environment communities that resemble Space Station, and the projected Space Station parameters. The team is resolving conflicts among requirements through the use of trade-off analyses. The requirements will give rise to a set of specifications which, in turn, will be used to produce concepts. Concept verification will include testing of prototypes, both in 1-g and microgravity. The end-item specification provides an overall guide for assembling a functional food system for Space Station.