The Journal of Nutrition
Issues and Opinions
Space Food for Thought: Challenges and
Considerations for Food and Nutrition on
Exploration Missions
Grace L Douglas,1 Sara R Zwart,2 and Scott M Smith1
1
Human Health and Performance Directorate, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA; and 2 University of Texas Medical Branch,
Galveston, TX, USA
Keywords: space flight, astronaut, microgravity, space, food system, Moon, Mars
Throughout human history, food and nutrition have been
key determinants in the success—or failure—of exploration
missions. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) is planning missions that will put the first woman and
next man on the moon this decade and will send humans to
Mars next decade. Greater propulsion capability is needed to
supply missions as distance from Earth increases and planetary
physics makes regular resupply unfeasible. Hence, providing
food and nutrition becomes a significant challenge.
The 20th anniversary of continuous human presence on
the International Space Station (ISS) is approaching. NASA
has provided a safe food system for astronauts on 4- to
11-mo missions in low-Earth orbit. However, limited water,
storage, crew time, and food preparation capability (e.g., add
water, heat) restrict the crew to a limited choice of shelf-
stable, single-serving food products either in their natural
form or preserved by dehydration, retort thermostabilization,
or irradiation. Astronauts select ∼20% of their food items
and beverages, whereas ∼80% of their diet comes from a
shared, standard set of foods. Resupply vehicles arrive several
times a year, bringing some fresh fruits and vegetables and
some semi-shelf-stable specialty items. Astronauts report that
these deliveries provide profound psychological benefits. The
degree to which these intermittent deliveries stave off nutritional
deficiencies is not easy to quantify because the variety and
amount of fresh fruit and vegetables vary, and they are shelf-
life limited to a few days or weeks.
Although Apollo astronauts reported hot water to be
“essential and non-negotiable” on ∼10-d lunar missions (1),
resource constraints on upcoming lunar missions may preclude
hot water or a food warmer for at least part of the mission. Food
mass and volume will be highly constrained, despite frequent
and intense lunar walks increasing energy expenditure and
limiting available time to eat. Concerns arise as to whether
a limited diet of cold foods for up to 8 d will affect intake,
Author disclosures: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
This work was funded by NASA, in the form of employment of the authors either
directly (GLD, SMS) or through the Human Health and Performance Contract
(SRZ).
Address correspondence to SMS (e-mail: scott.m.smith@nasa.gov).
Abbreviations: ISS, International Space Station; NASA, National Aeronautics and
Space Administration.
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society for Nutrition 2020. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the
Manuscript received May 27, 2020. Initial review completed June 3, 2020. Revision accepted June 11, 2020.
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performance, and morale and if these may risk accomplishing
mission objectives. Requests to reduce the mass of the lunar
food system by ∼10% led to “meal replacement bars” intended
to replace the calories and nutrients of a meal (∼750 kcal). One
test of these bars in a 30-d closed-chamber study found reduced
food intake and behavioral implications in high-performing
individuals (2).
Developing a food system for Mars missions will be
tremendously more challenging than for lunar or ISS missions.
A likely Mars mission has crews spending 6 mo speeding away
from their home planet: a journey analogous to an ISS trip but
without the occasional deliveries of fresh foods. This journey
ends with the crew spending 18 mo on the surface of Mars
with no possibility of resupply or emergency return, and then
the crew will embark on a 6-mo return journey to Earth.
The psychological impact of watching Earth get smaller and
communication with Earth taking longer is daunting, as are the
effects of radiation, microgravity, isolation, and confinement (3).
Food is the one countermeasure to physiological and behavioral
decrements that we know will be on board—the question is, can
we optimize the food system to mitigate negative consequences
of the space environment while minimizing resource utilization
and maintaining food palatability throughout the mission?
Although many food systems exist on Earth, the ability of these
to meet spaceflight demands has not yet been established, and
their feasibility within cost and schedule limits remains unclear.
Although often considered a secondary issue to get to Mars,
we highlight here the extensive challenges of developing a food
system for space exploration. Even if the rocket and engineering
systems work perfectly, if the food system fails to meet any
of these criteria, the journey will have the same epilogue as
many other expeditions that never even left the home planet
but went horribly wrong solely because of food and nutrition
system failures. Historic polar expeditions were devastated by
insufficient (thiamine and vitamin C) or excessive amounts of
vitamins or minerals (vitamin A and lead) in the diet (4, 5), some
of which were directly related to advances in food preservation
at the time (6).
In short, and as highlighted in Figure 1, any space food
system must meet basic criteria:
• Safety. It is paramount that we understand and minimize
any food-associated risk to astronaut health and to the
public domain in the US.
First published online July 11, 2020; doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/nxaa188.

FIGURE 1 Requirements of space food systems. A depiction of the many facets of and requirements for space food systems. As described
in the text, each element is critical for the ultimate success of a space mission, and failure of any aspect could imperil the mission and the crew.
The moon and Mars are also depicted here, reflecting two likely destinations for future human space exploration.
vehicle. The ISS food system undergoes extensive ground
processing and testing to minimize the risk of food poisoning.
Foods grown in the spacecraft will have microbiological
testing and cleaning requirements, as well as introduce waste
streams into the habitat air, water, and waste systems. Current
microbiological and nutritional analyses require substantial
resources and waste-processing capacity that will not transfer
as is to the resource-restricted spacecraft.
• Stability. Current designs for Mars missions require food
system stability (and/or ingredients and equipment) through
at least 5 y of storage. While the use of refrigerators and
freezers is possible, inclusion of this equipment will have
to be considered against mission volume, mass, and power
constraints. No food system to date has been devised or tested
or has demonstrated it can provide adequate acceptability
and nutrition for 5 y, let alone one that also meets the
restricted mass, volume, and storage in the hostile spaceflight
environment (e.g., radiation exposure, temperature extremes).
• Palatability. A food system could meet all requisite criteria,
but if it is not palatable, it will not be consumed in adequate
amounts to support health, performance, and morale. A
common misperception is that high-performing individuals,
such as astronauts, will consume whatever is required to
successfully complete a mission. The astronauts must be
willing and able to prepare and consume the foods available
for the duration of any mission, and familiar and acceptable
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food becomes even more important as duration, distance,
and isolation increase. Like Earth-bound humans, astronauts
require enjoyable foods that the average person would want
to consume day after day and that are easy and quick to
prepare after spending long hours at work.
• The military understands the importance of food. Where a
mission to Mars will last about 1000 d, the military limits
the use of meals ready to eat to 21 consecutive days (7).
Multiple factors influence loss of body mass in extreme
environments, including food acceptability and menu fatigue.
During spaceflight, loss of body mass is associated with
musculoskeletal losses, cardiovascular deconditioning, and
increased oxidative stress (8).
• Nutrition. The greatest number of fatalities and mission
failures in the history of human exploration on Earth were due
to food system inadequacies, such as deficiency of one or more
nutrients, insufficient caloric supply and underconsumption,
inadequate preservation, or even nutrient toxicities (9, 10).
Modern nutrition and food science has prevented these issues
on space missions to date, but exploration beyond low-Earth
orbit will bring new unknowns. In addition, meeting minimal
nutritional requirements may only prevent deficiency, whereas
an optimized system (such as one including a variety of
fruit and vegetables and associated bioactive compounds)
has the potential to promote health and performance
(11, 12).
Space food for thought 2243
• Resource minimization. All resources used (e.g., mass,
volume, crew time, water, power, equipment) and all waste
products created (e.g., waste water, packaging, volatiles,
biological waste) by a food system are weighed against the
amount and variety of acceptable, nutritious food available
for astronauts. Mission planners, with input from health and
medical specialists, will determine the health and performance
support systems (e.g., food, exercise, medical) within the
larger mission and vehicle resource constraints.
• Variety. Type, texture, and flavor of food all add variety. A
combination of systems (e.g., prepackaged, grown) may be
needed to avoid menu fatigue. Even a “perfect” food item,
ingredient, or nutrient source cannot provide an entire food
system (i.e., it cannot be consumed for every meal).
• Reliability. As is the case for loss of other systems of a space
vehicle, if part or all of a food system is lost, the result could
be catastrophic. This could happen if in situ foods do not
grow adequately or if equipment malfunctions. All systems
must also be validated in real or simulated extremes of the
spaceflight environment (e.g., pressure, gravity, temperature,
radiation).
• Usability. The food system must be easy and fast for the
astronauts to prepare or produce food. Exploration missions
will have very different goals from colonization missions.
Crews of the initial missions will focus on exploration and
science, and on these missions, astronauts will prepare food
as the average person would in their kitchen after a long
day of work. Ideally, astronauts would cook using bulk
ingredients, but spacecraft technical considerations can make
this difficult, including touch temperature limits (to eliminate
the risk of burns), safety concerns, and technical challenges
with containing and processing ingredients. In addition, food
preparation could require resources and processes for cooking
and cleanup different from those used in Earth’s gravity.
Development and testing of such systems must account for
the realities and constraints of spaceflight while minimizing
resource use. Labor- and resource-intensive food systems may
be more feasible during colonization missions than during
exploration missions.
• Space-ready appliances. To date, space food systems have only
allowed astronauts to add water and/or warm food (i.e., not
cooking). Food preparation equipment had to be specially
developed to meet safety (e.g., touch temperature limits) and
spaceflight requirements (e.g., microgravity, cabin pressure
changes, radiation), often adding mass. New equipment will
need to be developed for Mars class missions.
In the history of humankind, explorers set off to see what
was over the horizon, and literally millions did not return
because of food and nutrition failures (6). The harsh reality
remains: if we are going to send humans to the moon and
Mars in the coming decade(s), work needs to be accomplished
now to ensure the food system fits within the constraints of
2244 Douglas et al.
space vehicles and sustains and protects astronauts. We are
among those working to understand and mitigate these risks,
and we offer this information to others who are hoping to
solve food and nutrition challenges for spaceflight. We must
ensure that the next giant leaps in space exploration are well
nourished.
Acknowledgments
All authors (GLD, SRZ, and SMS) contributed equally to the
design and writing of this manuscript. All authors have read
and approved the draft and final versions of the manuscript. We
thank NASA for support of our work. We thank Cindy Bush for
the graphic.
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