NASA has selected 11 finalists in Phase 2 of the Deep Space Food Challenge, a public competition to push the limits of humans in space—through food. The Deep Space Food Challenge, a first-of-its-kind coordinated effort between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), aims to jump-start future food systems for pioneering missions to the Moon, Mars and beyond. The multi-stage technology competition invites problem solvers from around the world to design, build and test new ways to keep astronauts in space for months or even years.
Jim, associate administrator for NASA’s Space Technology Directorate says “As we prepare for long-duration human spaceflight, food is essential not only for nutrition, but also for familiarity and comfort during long journeys and in isolated environments, the creativity of innovators allows us to tackle this important yet complex challenge in new and exciting ways”.
Dozens of teams have developed innovative technologies
The second phase of the competition launched in January 2022 and invites new teams as well as winners of the previous phase 1 to build small prototypes of their ideas. Dozens of teams have developed innovative technologies that use minimal resources, create little waste, and produce safe, healthy and tasty meals for astronauts.
Among the proposed solutions are systems that create food using carbon dioxide and fungal proteins, as well as closed-loop systems designed to grow and maintain vegetables and greens. A panel of expert judges from academia, industry and government evaluated the teams’ submissions based on criteria such as design innovation, scientific and technical approach, as well as the feasibility of their proposal. Eleven selected teams qualified for the final stage 2 evaluation round.
The following US finalists will each receive $20,000:
• InFynity (Chicago, Illinois) uses mushroom protein to make nutritious and delicious meals.
• Nolux (Riverside, Calif.) produces plant- and mushroom-based foods using artificial photosynthesis.
• Mu Mycology (Hillboro, Oregon) uses a closed-loop mushroom cultivation system to allow scalable growth of a variety of edible mushrooms.
• Kernel Deltech USA (Cape Canaveral, Florida) produces inactivated fungal biomass using a continuous culture technique.
• Interstellar Lab (Merritt Island, Florida) produces fresh microgreens, vegetables, mushrooms and insects to provide micronutrients for long-duration space missions.
• Far Out Foods (St. Paul, Minn.) has developed a near-enclosed food production system called the Exo-Garden that is capable of producing a variety of mushrooms and hydroponic vegetables.
• SATED (Boulder, Colorado), or Safe Appliance, Tidy, Efficient & Delicious, cooks a variety of familiar foods from ingredients with a long shelf life.
• Air Company (Brooklyn, New York) has developed a system that captures carbon dioxide exhaled by astronauts, combined with hydrogen produced by electrolysis of water to produce alcohol, which is then fed to edible yeast to create proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
NASA and CSA jointly recognized three international finalist teams from outside the US and Canada:
• Enigma of the Cosmos (Melbourne, Australia) created a food production system with an adaptive growing platform that could increase efficiency by at least 40%.
• Solar Foods (Lappeenranta, Finland) uses gas fermentation to produce single-cell proteins.
• Mycorena (Göteborg, Sweden) has developed a circular production system using a mixture of microalgae and fungi, which results in a microprotein that uses minimal resources while producing minimal waste.
Denise Morris of Crowdsourcing. acting program manager for Centennial Challenges at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama says “In addition to meeting the needs for long-duration deep space missions, they also assessed the potential use of this technology here on Earth, where food scarcity is a significant problem in harsh environments”.
The US teams were asked to imagine the future and adaptability of their technologies by creating a plan to adapt power, weight and volume in different environments; increase diversity to include more or different food outputs; and expand the stability of the components and food outputs of their systems.
The Hefvin (Bethesda, Maryland) team was recognized for these plans and won a $10,000 prize for their work, which grew fruit cells in nutrient media and produced berries rich in flavor, color and aroma.
As a next step, the judges will visit each of the Phase 2 finalists at their facilities to evaluate their technologies and food outputs, as well as participate in a demonstration to evaluate the acceptability and simplicity of the food production process.
After these on-site demonstrations, up to five top US teams will be recognized as winners of the Phase 2 challenge, each receiving $150,000. Up to three top international teams will be recognized as winners of Phase 2 of the challenge. Phase 2 winners are due to be announced in April 2023.
The Deep Space Food Challenge is a coordinated effort between NASA and the Canadian Space Agency. The competition is supported by subject matter experts from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The Deep Space Food Challenge is one of NASA’s centennial challenges that are part of the Prizes, Challenges and Crowdsourcing program of NASA’s Space Technology Directorate. The agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama administers the Centennial Challenges. NASA, in partnership with the Methuselah Foundation, will oversee United States and international competitors.
