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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is working towards future long duration manned space flights beyond low earth orbit. The duration of these missions may be as long as 2.5 years and will likely include a stay on a lunar or planetary surface. For these long duration missions, a shelf life of 3 – 5 years for the prepackaged transit food system is required. Of the preservation methods currently being used for NASA flight food, the thermostabilized items have the longest shelf life and could be used on longer duration space missions. Currently four approved International Space Station thermostabilized packaged foods are undergoing accelerated shelf life testing at NASA/Johnson Space Center. Bread pudding was produced in the summer of 2001 and carrot coins, tuna noodle casserole, and apricot cobbler were produced for shelf life testing in the summer of 2002.

In preparation for future planetary exploration, the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex (BIO-Plex) is currently being built at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The BIO-Plex facility will allow for closed chamber Earth-based tests. Various prepackaged food systems are being considered for the first 120-day BIO-Plex test. These food systems will be based on the Shuttle Training Menu and the International Space Station (ISS) Assembly Complete food systems. This paper evaluates several prepackaged food system options for the surface portion of an early Mars mission, based on plans for the first BIO-Plex test. The five systems considered are listed in Table 1. The food system options are assessed using equivalent system mass (ESM), which evaluates each option based upon the mass, volume, power, cooling and crewtime requirements.

In preparation for a future manned mission to Mars, food-processing systems are being developed for use during the anticipated 18-month stay on the planet’s surface. Design of these prototypes address the special needs of a self-contained environment necessary to support the crew during the long-term mission. This self-contained environment will be a bio-regenerative life support system, dubbed BIO-Plex, and will house the crew and all appurtenant life support and scientific research equipment. Designs of food processing systems in such an environment address limited space requirements, minimal energy and water use, minimal waste stream generation, low equipment weight, limited crew task time, and high-quality food production which satiates the nutritional and psychological needs of the crew. Additionally, the system must function in a 0.3g - environment.