Scientists are planning a mock mission to Mars called HI-SEAS to study how best to feed astronauts living in a future Mars outpost.
Participants preparing for a mock mission to Mars take cooking lessons for the journey at a Cornell University kitchen lab.
The Hawaii Space Exploration Analogue & Simulation (HI-SEAS) project will study how best to feed astronauts en route to Mars and after they arrive.
Mock Mars mission participants were chosen to be as "astronaut-like" as possible, which includes the requirement of a science background. Some even applied to be NASA astronauts, and a current NASA astronaut, Yvonne Cagle, is advising the project.
The HI-SEAS participants will be eating a mix of instant meals and foods they cook themselves from shelf-stable ingredients.
The food options available are broad, even though none require refrigeration.
It's amazing what you can do with instant pudding mix. Here, the crew has prepared a coconut crepe with chocolate pudding filling.
The HI-SEAS mock Mars habitat will include basic kitchen tools such as a small stove, oven and microwave.
The ingredients the crew will bring to 'Mars' have long shelf lives. This can doesn't expire until 2037.
The HI-SEAS participants have varying levels of cooking experience. A number describe themselves as typical engineers who've hardly ever cooked before. But everyone may need to help out in the kitchen on Mars.
During their mission, the 'astronauts' will not only take detailed surveys on all their meals, but will pursue space mission-related research of their own.
One of the study's leaders, Kim Binsted of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, was partly inspired to undertake this study by her experience doing research in the arctic, where food choices were limited.
