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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is working towards future long duration manned space flights beyond low earth orbit. During these missions, vegetable crops may be grown on the transit vehicle as well as the lunar or planetary surface. The vegetable crops will provide the crew with added nutrition and variety. The vegetable crops, unlike the prepackaged foods, will add bright colors, fresh textures (e.g., crispiness), and fresh aromas to the crew’s menu. Ten vegetable crops have been identified for possible use in long duration missions. They are lettuce, spinach, carrot, tomato, green onion, radish, bell pepper, strawberries, fresh herbs, and cabbage. Since these crops do not require any cooking or food processing prior to consumption, careful sanitation procedures need to be performed.

Soybean products such as soymilk and tofu could be used in recipes for Martian surface missions. Soybean cultivars must therefore meet requirements of both the Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Advanced Food Technology (AFT) elements. Using Equivalent System Mass (ESM) and a Modified Food Quality Index (MFQI), the Food Metric Value (FMV) may provide researchers a way to incorporate quantitative as well as qualitative attributes into a metric more suitable for evaluating potential candidate crops. An FMV was calculated using different tofu production rates and product palatability values for the Hoyt or Vinton 81 cultivar. Results indicate that while crop growth efficiency favors use of the Hoyt cultivar, resulting food yield and product attributes favor use of Vinton 81.

Factors such as protein, bran and moisture content, waste product utilization and bread making technology influence on system mass are being examined at NASA's Johnson Space Center. By optimizing these factors, the Advanced Food System will improve the likelihood of a successful long duration space mission. Results demonstrate an ability to make breads using high protein content flour, identified a need for proper milling equipment, illustrated a possible alternative use of waste materials and identified advantages/disadvantages of using one bread making technology over another.