NASA experiments with food for interplanetary travel

摘要

When Buck Rogers headed out on his interplanetary travels, nobody thought much about how he would feed himself. But the reality is that human beings, no matter where they are or what else they need, must have food, water, and air. The question of how to provide food for interplanetary travel has now gained prominence in the greater scheme of America's commitment to space exploration and is the subject of this article. So far, astronauts have explored space nearer Earth, in space capsules, for relatively short periods of time, carrying their food with them. For long-term missions, however, it may not be cost effective or practical to carry their supplies with them from Earth. Instead, life support systems may need to be developed to produce food, purify water, and regenerate oxygen. As we push farther into outer space, the challenges for obtaining an acceptable, safe food supply increase dramatically.