Foods for a Mission to Mars: Equivalent System Mass and Development of a Multipurpose Small-Scale Seed Processor

The candidate crops for planetary food systems include: wheat, white and sweet potatoes, soybean, peanut, strawberry, dry bean including le ntil and pinto, radish, rice, lettuce, carrot, green onion, tomato, p eppers, spinach, and cabbage. Crops such as wheat, potatoes, soybean, peanut, dry bean, and rice can only be utilized after processing, while others are classified as ready-to-eat. To process foods in space, the food processing subsystem must be capable of producing a variety of nutritious, acceptable, and safe edible ingredients and food produ cts from pre-packaged and resupply foods as well as salad crops grown on the transit vehicle or other crops grown on planetary surfaces. D esigning, building, developing, and maintaining such a subsystem is b ound to many constraints and restrictions. The limited power supply, storage locations, variety of crops, crew time, need to minimize waste , and other equivalent system mass (ESM) parameters must be considere d in the selection of processing equipment and techniques

Planned Experiments for Radiation Effects on Lipids and Antioxidants--EAC Presentation 2004

Determination of the adverse effects of radiation on foods is an integral part in the development of a food system for a long-term space mission. An extended inter-planetary mission to Mars, as proposed by NASA, will require a five year shelf life for prepackaged foods for the return flight. Understanding the effects of adverse conditions to which these products will be exposed is necessary to enable development of high quality foods. Ionizing radiation is a primary concern not only for human health but also for food quality and functionality. Free radicals from this radiation participate in the initiation step of lipid oxidation. This oxidative process leads to the development of odors and off-flavors in the food matrix. One goal of this study is to quantify the extent of lipid oxidation and the effects on fatty acid profile caused by exposure to gamma-radiation. The second objective is to characterize the effects that gamma-radiation has on different antioxidants and their effective biological status. Antioxidants have been deemed an important part of the diet for long-term space travel due to the increased radiation exposure. Antioxidants are free radical scavenging compounds that may help negate some otherwise inevitable deleterious health effects. Antioxidants may also be incorporated into food product formulations where they can work alone or synergistically to reduce effects from free radicals and maintain product quality. 1 slide Related Documents:WM1, WM2, WM3, WM

Space Foods: WALLA Course

64 slide

Food Processing and Packaging-EAC Presentation 2004

35 slides Related Documents:WM1, WM2, WM3, WM

Equivalent System Mass (ESM) Estimates for Commercially Available, Small-Scale Food Processing Equipment--EAC Presentation 2004

One of the challenges NASA faces today is developing an Advanced Life Support (ALS) system that will enable long duration space missions beyond low earth orbit (LEO). This ALS system must include a food processing subsystem capable of producing a variety of nutritious, acceptable, and safe edible ingredients and food products from pre-packaged and re-supply foods as well as salad crops grown on the transit vehicle or other crops grown on planetary surfaces. However, designing, building, developing, and maintaining such a subsystem is bound to many constraints and restrictions. The limited power supply, storage locations, variety of crops, crew time, need to minimize waste, and other ESM parameters influence the selection of processing equipment and techniques. Several researchers have calculated ESM of select types of food processing equipment to compare ESM for individual food types; however, a complete survey of ESM parameters for currently available food processing unit operations has not been completed. 1 slide Related Documents:WM1, WM2, WM3, WM

Equivalent System Mass (ESM) Estimates for Commercially Available, Small-scale Food Processing Equipment

One of the challenges NASA faces today is developing an Advanced Life Support (ALS) system that will enable long-duration space missions beyond low earth orbit (LEO). This ALS system must include a food processing subsystem capable of producing a variety of nutritious, acceptable, and safe edible ingredients and food products from pre-packaged and re-supply foods as well as salad crops grown on the transit vehicle or other crops grown on planetary surfaces. However, designing, building, developing, and maintaining such a subsystem is bound to many constraints and restrictions. The limited power supply, storage locations, variety of crops, crew time, need to minimize waste, and other ESM parameters influence the selection of processing equipment and techniques. Several researchers have calculated ESM of select types of food processing equipment to compare ESM for individual food types; however, a complete survey of ESM parameters for currently available food processing unit operations has not been completed.In order to direct NASA\u27s research and technology efforts related to the food subsystem, the technologies available on Earth for food processing, preservation, and packaging must be identified and the viability of these technologies must be assessed. Minimizing mass, volume, and energy consumption are important factors to be considered when locating available food processing equipment and evaluating feasibility for use in an ALS system. Once the ESM has been estimated for available equipment, modifications can be suggested to improve efficiency and reduce ESM. The objective of this study was to compile ESM-parameter information (mass, volume, and power) for currently available, small-scale food processing equipment and to provide average, high, and low ESM values for each class of equipment (hand-held and bench-top mixers, etc.) that performs the following unit operations: mixing, size reduction, heat transfer (heating and cooling), and extraction (water, oil, and juice). In this study, each piece of equipment was assumed to perform a single task, the power required for cooling was set equivalent to the power needed to operate the equipment, and the crew-time was not considered in the preliminary ESM estimates. An additional discussion on other parameters important to consider for ESM of the food system, including multi-functional equipment and power, is provided. Description:20 page