The Cuisine for Future Space Missions -- Can You Stomach This?

in science •  7 years ago 

Sometimes you are better off not asking where your food came from. Say your steward on your space flight to Mars ask you if you would like some dungemite on your toast? What will you say? Read this post before you answer.

Long-Haul Space Flights

To limit cargo room and conserve as much as possible on deep-space flights astronauts could eat goo made from their poo. Oh.. come now, it's just a smear of 'microbial goo', a bit like Marmite or Vegemite

Researchers at Penn State are serious. They have developed a system that combines microbes with human waste to create food.


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The 4 foot long cylindrical test system the researchers developed incorporates a process used often by municipalities to treat waste here on Earth. Inside the cylinder waste is exposed to microbes that break the waste down through anaerobic digestion. As the microbes breakdown the waste methane is produced to grow Mehtylococcus capsulatus. Mehtylococcus capsulatus are microbes used in animal feed. The microbes provide a good mixture of protein and fat.


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Using the researcher's reactor system to transform waste into food is faster than waiting for tomatoes or potatoes to grow.

Recycling on the Internation Space Station (ISS)


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On board the ISS astronauts already recycle urine into drinkable water. But, currently, poo from the ISS is discharged to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

NASA Grants

NASA is looking for creative solutions, like the microbe reactor developed by Penn State researchers, for sustaining astronauts on an eventual deep-space human mission to Mars.

Sources and Full Articles

Astronauts could one day eat goo made from their poo, CNET.com, 29 January 2018

Coupling of anaerobic waste treatment to produce protein- and lipid-rich bacterial biomass, Science Direct, Life Sciences in Space Research, Vol. 15, November 2017, pp. 32-42

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@etcmike me llama la atención lo que escribes acerca de "reciclar la orina y convertirla en agua potable", Dios no me imaginó, e escuchado que la orina por más tratada que esté, siempre tiene ese sabor particular.
Saludos y un abrazo muy grande de tu seguidora @yenipaola.

Even though most of the water on earth is recycled, I prefer natures slow method of recycling water compared to the quick way someone comes up with. Just knowing where the recycled water came from would make me think it would taste strange.

Have a wonderful week!
Steem on,
Mike

At this moment, I do not want something like that, however, it could be a solution to the possible problems of food sources in future times. At least in those times I will not be here.

You are right that in times of food shortages (crop failures) alternatives like this may be necessary. I just hope they come up with a good marketing name :-)

Have a great week!
Steem on,
Mike

ja ja ja

Yakhh.. 🤪
I'm not going to take it with whatever they treat it...
Nice information Mike... So now I know what Astronauts can eat..

Nice Post..
@etcmike
Keep it up..👍

it was like discovering some really different amazing post :D

Yeah somethings are better to left alone and unknown !

🤮 I wouldn’t like some dungemite on my toast 🤢

Have a great week!!
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mehram

Oh really..I never knew this before :) Thanks for sharing with us :)

I think this is great investing. It might be helpful in future. Thanks for sharing this qualitative post.
Have a great day!

Amazing post like it and upvoted.

good work. I like it.
thanks @etcmike:-) for your great post

this is great investing sir and thanks for sharing this, this is something new to me.

Good work.

Its such a good information... 👍

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Arslan

well posted again a nice work@etcmike

@etcmike like you post keep it up on a way

interesting @etcmike