technology timeline: The future of space food

Catherine de Lange, contributor

(Image: National Science & Engineering Week 2012)

Space tourism is just around the corner. Some people are worried about the costs, others the safety. But for foodies on board, there might be an altogether more pressing question: what?s for dinner?

Eating in space is a notoriously difficult problem - not only is it hard to get the food into astronauts? mouths in the first place, but the sense of taste is severely limited at zero gravity. Traditionally then, astronauts have had to make do with foil-packed and dehydrated goods that do little to tickle the taste buds. Of course, astronauts are in space to work, so they can?t complain too much. Space tourists, on the other hand, are likely to be fussier customers. So what might they expect?

On Friday, I got a sneak preview of some of the possibilities that lie in store for the space menus of the future. In anticipation of this year's National Science and Engineering Week in the UK, artistic food designers The Robin Collective joined forces with space nutrition specialist Brian Ratcliffe from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, and astronaut Helen Sharman, who was the first Briton in space. Their challenge was to see if they could overcome some of the culinary obstacles that dining in orbit, or on a really long space mission, would present.

As I made my way into the venue - the Futures Gallery in London?s Science Museum - I was handed a sludgy green 'Cosmic Cocktail? which turned out to be a spirulina caipirinha. Spirulina is a microalgae normally available in health shops. Previously, when I?ve tried it I had to spit it out. When jazzed up as a Brazilian cocktail, though, it tasted surprisingly delicious. Astronauts don?t drink alcohol in space, but space tourists are surely going to want to let their hair down on the trip, especially if it takes years to reach their destination. Packed with protein, micronutrients, and antioxidants a spirulina caipirinha could be just the ticket.

Other than the ensuing hangovers, one unpleasant experience space tourists might complain of is what?s known as the ?Charlie Brown? effect. That?s when body fluids, in the absence of gravity, travel up instead of down. This can cause swelling which blocks the sinuses, and like a bad head cold, limits sense of smell and therefore taste. That means foods need to pack in more flavour than they do back on earth.

The dehydrated Mars Breakfast Bar the team served up promises to deliver all the flavour of a full English breakfast in a few bites. But after taking the tiniest bite, the overwhelming taste of bacon and salt made me wonder if I would enjoy it more if I were suffering from the Charlie Brown effect.

Concentrating flavours into tiny packages isn't only down to the need to pack light, there is very little to cook with in space. For a start, there?s no convection - heat doesn?t rise - so traditional cooking methods are very limited. The now popular culinary technique of freeze-drying was first developed by NASA, and has become essential to creating astronaut entr?es. Water heated over hot pipes can be used to rehydrate dishes like ramen noodles, and of course no space meal would be complete without freeze dried ?astronaut? ice cream. The Robin Collective jazzed up the dehydrated dessert with a crumble topping. Yum.

Less delicious though were the freeze-dried noodles that were supposed to taste like a roast dinner. The ?Big Dipper Dab? freeze-dried raspberries and sherbet were also mouth-wincingly sour.

2nd pic Gastronaut-39.jpg (Image: National Science & Engineering Week 2012)

Crumbs are an issue in space, as they float off and can get stuck in undesirable places, so tortillas are a carb of choice for astronauts. Our next dish was a twist on tradition - peanut butter and jam on tiny tortillas. That might not sound revolutionary, but eating familiar foods is really important when you?re so far from home comforts, says Sharman: ?It flies you back to where you were on earth.?

One of the problems will be trying to get space tourists to consume enough nutrients (especially when food tastes duller than it does on earth), without the availability of fresh foods. That challenge is a bit like trying to get to kids to eat a healthy packed lunch: you have to make it more fun. According to Sharman, any food you can throw into your peers? mouths will be a hit in space. ?Martianmallows? then should be a hot commodity. The tiny treats were fortified with nutrients, and some came coated with coffee for a space-friendly caffeine fix. They were delicious and light, and seemed like they would be perfect for playing with in zero gravity.

If the future of space food tastes as good as those poppable marshmallows, the challenge won?t be getting tourists to eat enough, it will be making sure they can still fit into their space suits for the journey back home.

National Science and Engineering week runs from 9-18th March.