There are no restaurants or convenience stores between Earth and Mars. This means astronauts will have to pack their food for the history-making trip to Mars in the 2030s. And since a cooler won’t cut it on the spaceship, the meals are already being planned for this epic trip.
Maya Cooper is a senior research scientist at Lockheed Martin and she recently gave an interview to NPR’s Audie Cornish on All Things Considered. She explained how she’s currently planning the Mars mission menu.
We’ve all heard of astronaut food before. It’s morphed quite a bit since the first space mission. It’s no longer specifically dehydrated foods as fresh fruit and veggies are acceptable options along with other more familiar choices, like beef jerky. However, all of the foods are not going to work for the Mars mission as it simply won’t last long enough.
The Mars mission will take over 2 years round trip. Six months to travel from Earth, a year and a half on Mars, and another six months to travel back. Currently the foods used only last about two years and they will expire before the trip is complete. (more…)
