When it comes to imagining food in space, the first thing that’s likely to cross most people’s minds is freeze-dried products like astronaut ice cream. And while preserved foods will inevitably be a part of astronaut’s diets for the foreseeable future, nowadays there’s an increasing focus on how to provide astronauts with fresh foods like vegetables and grains for at least occasional treats.
Fortunately, we’re getting better and better at growing a wider variety of foods in the microgravity conditions of space. In the last few years, astronauts on the International Space Station have grown foods like radishes, lettuce, and chili peppers. And now, a team of researchers has come up with an “astronaut salad” featuring foods that could be grown in space.
“We have simulated a mix of six to eight crops that deliver all the required nutrients that an astronaut needs, which is different from what people need on Earth,” one of the researchers, Volker Hessel of the University of Adelaide, said in a statement. “While there are dozens of crops that can fulfill an astronaut’s nutrient requirements, we needed to find those that could pack a punch and deliver the calories needed in smaller portions that could be grown in a small space.
To keep the meal appealing, the researchers chose plants with a variety of colors, textures, and flavors. “Food is such an integral part of staying healthy and happy, and there are many factors that contribute to this,” said another of the researchers, Shu Liang of the University of Nottingham.
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