Abstract
Space agencies are developing regenerative life support systems that provide air, water, and staple foods through hydroponic cultivation of a limited number of plants using crew waste as fertilizer, but these, mostly vegan, diets lack a number of essential nutrients found in a balanced diet. The aim of this project is to develop sustainable microbial-based food supplements for space travelers on long-duration space missions to the Moon and Mars. We will research and select suitable microbial-based food supplements, providing essential nutrients and vitamins to maintain human health and wellbeing, and still be active under stressful space conditions, including chronic exposure to reduced gravity and cosmic radiation. The growth and nutritional content of the microbial products and their safety and efficacy for human consumption in space will be evaluated, also by using reduced gravity simulators and space radiation analogs. In addition, it will be explored how on-site substrates (e.g. CO2 gas, regolith, etc.) could be used. The final outcome of the project will be a set of microbial strains or products that can be used as a reliable supplement to complete a space diet, improving the viability of human colonies on celestial bodies, and a first step towards a concept on how such a DIY production payload could look like.
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