Developments and scope of space food

Author(s):  
Yashmita Grover ◽  
Jagriti Bhasin ◽  
Bhavika Dhingra ◽  
Sonali Nandi ◽  
Mamta Hansda ◽  
...  

: Humans have conducted numerous space missions in past decades and its success depends upon many factors including astronaut health as the major factor. Health and nutrition are two vital components of life derived from food which helps in keeping one’s body alive, nourished as well as energetic including the astronauts during their long-duration manned missions. With the advancement in research and technology, it became possible to include a wide variety of dishes in the space menu, with most of them being similar to those eaten on earth. This review highlights the evolution of space food starting from mission Mercury to the current International Space Station. Furthermore, it also enlightens and focuses on types of space food, its packaging considerations, and vitamin A-rich energy balls as potential space food. Many deleterious effects of outer space explorations have been observed on the human body, such as loss of body mass, vision-related changes, loss in bone density, and even anemia. To overcome these issues, various considerations must be followed while designing space food. The nutritional requirement plays an important role in a space mission. Various foods are having the potential to overcome the limitations caused by a space mission. Thus, while developing space food, various parameters should be taken into consideration such as deficiencies and illness. The food should be compact, bite-sized, easily digestible, and shelf-stable. Further research is required to better gain insight into the technological advancements while considering the nutritional status and requirements of astronauts in a space mission.

2010 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 1143-1166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren C. Zook

In October 2007, Malaysia celebrated sending its first astronaut into space, as part of a cooperative venture on board a Russian space mission. As Malaysia's first astronaut was a Muslim, the Malaysian government commissioned, through its Department of Islamic Development, a project to create a definitive set of guidelines for the practice of Islam in outer space, specifically on board the International Space Station. What may on the surface appear to be a practical exercise in clarifying religious practice reveals upon closer examination to be a complex restructuring of Malaysia's domestic and international politics, with the role of Islam as the catalytic and somewhat controversial centerpiece.


2016 ◽  
Vol 120 (12) ◽  
pp. 1449-1457 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Pagel ◽  
A. Choukèr

Human psychology and physiology are significantly altered by isolation and confinement. In light of planned exploration class interplanetary missions, the related adverse effects on the human body need to be explored and defined as they have a large impact on a mission's success. Terrestrial space analogs offer an excellent controlled environment to study some of these stressors during a space mission in isolation without the complex environment of the International Space Station. Participants subjected to these space analog conditions can encounter typical symptoms ranging from neurocognitive changes, fatigue, misaligned circadian rhythm, sleep disorders, altered stress hormone levels, and immune modulatory changes. This review focuses on both the psychological and the physiological responses observed in participants of long-duration spaceflight analog studies, such as Mars500 or Antarctic winter-over. They provide important insight into similarities and differences encountered in each simulated setting. The identification of adverse effects from confinement allows not only the crew to better prepare for but also to design feasible countermeasures that will help support space travelers during exploration class missions in the future.


Author(s):  
Chris Nie

A new era of spaceflight dawned following the conclusion of the United States and Russian space race. This new era has been marked by the design, assembly, and operation of one of the greatest engineering feats mankind has accomplished, the International Space Station (ISS). The ISS is comprised of hundreds of thousands of kilograms of material built on the ground and transported to space for assembly. It houses an artificial atmosphere to sustain life in outer space and has been continually inhabited for over 15 years. This chapter describes the technical complexity of the ISS, the background of how it was assembled, its major systems, details of crew life onboard, commercial usage of the resource, and examples of mishaps that have occurred during the ISS's operation. The technical details of the ISS provide a glimpse into what future space stations that might orbit the Moon and Mars will resemble.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1025-1030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki Shirakawa ◽  
◽  
Fumiaki Tanigaki ◽  
Takashi Yamazaki ◽  

The International Space Station (ISS) is a completely closed environment that offers a long-term microgravity environment. It is a unique environment where microbes can fly and attach themselves to devices or humans, especially the exposed parts of the body and head. The ongoing monitoring and analysis of microbes and their movement inside the Japanese Experiment Module (named “Kibo”) of the ISS are intended to study the effects of microbes on humans and prevent health hazards caused by microbes during a long-term space mission. This paper describes the current status and future plan of Japanese microbiological experiments to monitor microbial dynamics in Kibo. It also describes the future prospective and prioritized microbiological research areas based on the “Kibo utilization scenario towards 2020 in the field of life science.” Given the microbial research in space being actively conducted by the USA, NASA and international activities are also reported.


2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 968-975 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Ade ◽  
R. M. Broxterman ◽  
A. D. Moore ◽  
T. J. Barstow

We have previously predicted that the decrease in maximal oxygen uptake (V̇o2max) that accompanies time in microgravity reflects decrements in both convective and diffusive O2 transport to the mitochondria of the contracting myocytes. The aim of this investigation was therefore to quantify the relative changes in convective O2 transport (Q̇o2) and O2 diffusing capacity (Do2) following long-duration spaceflight. In nine astronauts, resting hemoglobin concentration ([Hb]), V̇o2max, maximal cardiac output (Q̇Tmax), and differences in arterial and venous O2 contents ([Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text]) were obtained retrospectively for International Space Station Increments 19–33 (April 2009–November 2012). Q̇o2 and Do2 were calculated from these variables via integration of Fick’s Principle of Mass Conservation and Fick’s Law of Diffusion. V̇o2max significantly decreased from pre- to postflight (−53.9 ± 45.5%, P = 0.008). The significant decrease in Q̇Tmax (−7.8 ± 9.1%, P = 0.05), despite an unchanged [Hb], resulted in a significantly decreased Q̇o2 (−11.4 ± 10.5%, P = 0.02). Do2 significantly decreased from pre- to postflight by −27.5 ± 24.5% ( P = 0.04), as did the peak [Formula: see text]-[Formula: see text] (−9.2 ± 7.5%, P = 0.007). With the use of linear regression analysis, changes in V̇o2max were significantly correlated with changes in Do2 ( R2 = 0.47; P = 0.04). These data suggest that spaceflight decreases both convective and diffusive O2 transport. These results have practical implications for future long-duration space missions and highlight the need to resolve the specific mechanisms underlying these spaceflight-induced changes along the O2 transport pathway. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Long-duration spaceflight elicited a significant decrease in maximal oxygen uptake. Given the adverse physiological adaptations to microgravity along the O2 transport pathway that have been reported, an integrative approach to the determinants of postflight maximal oxygen uptake is needed. We demonstrate that both convective and diffusive oxygen transport are decreased following ~6 mo International Space Station missions.


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