Gastronauts: Developing food ready for the next space race

For the new space race, astronauts and space tourists will want to eat a little better than the corn beef sandwiches, applesauce and high-calorie cubes of protein, fat and sugar consumed by NASA scientists in the 1960s. But how to provide genuinely exciting and mouth-watering food that can also stir up happy memories of a home millions of miles away in the confines of zero gravity and restricted room of a space shuttle? That's the challenge four academics led by Professor Marianna Obrist , Professor of Multisensory Experiences at the University of Sussex, have attempted to meet in their paper Space Food Experiences: Designing Passenger's Eating Experiences for Future Space Travel Scenarios. The paper develops three design concepts that integrate and tackle the functional, sensorial, emotional, social, and environmental/atmospheric aspects of eating experiences in space: Spice Bomb Mixing - An "emotional" cleanser combating the diminished flavour perception in space caused by stuffiness in the nose. Solid spices and ingredients are not commonly used in space food because of the risk of them floating away. But the team propose a mixing pod which would dissolve into the food - injecting a meal with flavour and texture. Flavour Journey 3D Printer - An astronaut or tourist could order a flavour profile from family, friends, or chefs which would be recreated through a food printer within the space shuttle. Potentially an astronaut could enjoy a "bar" that integrates several courses in one print.