Design of a Food Service and Food
Processing System for Long-Duration Missions in a Closed Environment

Clinton L. Rappole, Ph.D., Professor, UH
Charles Bourland, Ph.D., JSC
Yael Vodovotz, Ph.D., Post-Doctoral Fellow, UH

TO ACCOMMODATE LONGER duration missions, larger crew size, and changes in crew complement during the mission, the food for a future Lunar outpost or Martian base may be provided from plants grown in Advanced Life Support bioregenerative chambers (ALS). The growing of food at these remote sites, instead of being resupplied from earth, will increase self-sufficiency and also provide the atmosphere for the inhabitants (oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water). The mission of the food group is to provide a healthy, safe and nutritious food supply for long-duration missions in space. The menu developed for such missions will depend mostly on the plants being grown in bioregenerative chambers as well as upon nutritional requirements and variability in the diet. Because the crew in these missions will not have time to spare; the ease of food production, food processing, and preparation is paramount.

Dr. Clint Rappole views bread baking in the Hilton Hotel School kitchen while he contemplates ovens needed to bake bread in Space.

Dr. Yael Vodovotz, post-doctoral aerospace fellow under the guidance of Dr. Clint Rappole of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management and Dr. Charles Bourland at NASA-Johnson Space Center, has been actively involved in the development and implementation of the ALS food system. The crops (wheat, soybeans, peanuts, rice, potato, sweetpotato and various salad plants) grown in space habitats need to be processed into food ingredients and prepared as edible products. Food processing equipment needs to be highly automated and multifunctional while operating at low power, and must be designed to minimize waste production. Food safety also needs to be considered since waste material will be recycled as part of the nutrient solution for plant growth. Additionally, volatiles emitted during food processing and preparation need to be assessed since their accumulation in a closed environment may pose health concerns.

Various proposals were submitted jointly by the University of Houston and Texas A&M University, Rutgers University, the University of Georgia, and the University of Massachusetts to NASA for methodologies needed to produce the ingredients and food products from crops and equipment that would function under the above Space-mandated constraints. These methods include: (1) development of high quality soy based dairy analogs, (2) gluten, starch and sugar production via complex processing of wheat, (3) novel means for recovery and utilization of vegetable oils in Advanced Life Support Systems, and (4) process and product development to utilize the sweetpotato as a food source for long-duration missions. These efforts have yielded strong relationships between the Hilton College and the food science departments at the other institutions. Additionally, a three-year grant to study volatiles produced in a closed chamber by various food processing and preparation equipment has been funded, and some of the results from the first year's effort using the bread machine (Fig. 1) are available.[1]

Figure 1. Chamber used to obtain off-gasing samples during the baking of bread. These samples were then analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to quantify the compounds produced in the experiment.

Information related to food research on ALS needs to be made available to the public and other research institutions. As part of the ALS NASA website, a subsection was added on food science and technology at: http://pet.jsc.nasa.gov/foodtech_nut.html.

Posters were prepared for NASA-JSC Inspection Day and Open House dealing with the evolution of space food and ALS food processing that introduced the public to food issues related to space flight. Researchers delivered several presentations at scientific meetings[2-4] and paid visits to collaborating institutions--Texas A&M, Rutgers University, and the University of Massachusetts--in hopes of promoting the exchange of scientific knowledge on food availability in space.

A conference addressing "Nutrition and Food Concerns of Long Term Space Travel" will be held at the University of Houston to discuss future research needs in the food and nutrition area for long terms space travel including ALS. A class entitled "Food Service Systems in Space: A Challenge for the 21st Century" was taught jointly by Dr. Rappole and Dr. Vodovotz at the C. N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management in which students were asked to prepare and test a menu item obtained solely from ingredients derived from the crop list proposed for ALS.

Other information from NASA-JSC suitable for technology transfer relates to different food processing procedures designed to obtain edible ingredients from plant sources. Presentations included a summary of past and present food processing research for ALS conducted with NASA funds by different research institutions. An information brochure was prepared on the ALS food system for distribution to visitors at NASA-JSC.

A proposed habitat for long-duration missions which utilizes ALS, the Bioregenerative Planetary Life Support Systems Test Complex (BIO-Plex), is currently under construction at JSC. In support of this effort, a menu is being planned utilizing ALS crops that will meet nutritional and psychological requirements. A part of the menu will be tested in a human chamber test (Lunar Mars Life Support Test Project) where crew members will be enclosed in a chamber for 90 days utilizing bioregenerative and physico-chemical means to recycle water and air.

The distribution of the galley and arrangement of food preparation equipment of the BIO-Plex habitation chamber were evaluated during a three day "sleep-over" which recommended many changes. Food safety became an important issue as a consequence of the recycling of liquid waste into nutrient solutions for plant growth resulting in possible contamination. Human contact with salad crops becomes a safety concern, as well, if the product is not to be processed prior to consumption. These issues were discussed among the food group in cooperation with Dr. Dawn Hentges, a food safety expert.

An initiative to commercialize the space food system was proposed at JSC. The contribution of the food industry in solving some of the problems posed by long-duration space flight was deemed extremely important . That effort is being pursued further with possible involvement of the University of Houston.

References
[1]Y. Vodovotz and D. Barta. "Wheat Processing in an Enclosed Environment: Hydroponically Grown Wheat to Bread," Life Support and Biosphere Science. (Submitted for publication.)
[2]Y. Vodovotz and C. L. Rappole. "Food Service Systems of Future Space Habitats," presentation, Society for the Advancement of Food Service Research, Cleveland, OH, April 6-9, 1997.
[3]Y. Vodovotz, C. T. Bourland and C. L. Rappole. "Advanced Life Support Food Development: A New Challenge," presentation, 27th ICES Conf., paper no. 972363.
[4]Y. Vodovotz, C. T. Bourland and C. L. Rappole. "Menu Planning and Equipment Engineering for CELSS Crops Intended for Long-Duration Space Missions," poster presentation #59D-24, Institute of Food Technologist Meeting, 1997.

Contents
ISSO -- Institute for Space Systems Operations
1996-1997 Annual Report