As industrial spaceflight expands and missions develop longer, scientists say the know-how behind what astronauts eat could also be due for an improve.
Suresh Pillai, Ph.D., a Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist, professor within the Department of Food Science and Technology and head of the National Center for Electron Beam Research, stated electron beam, or eBeam, know-how may substitute lots of the thermal stabilization strategies at present used to arrange shelf-stable space food.
“We can do a direct replacement of thermal stabilization with electron beam,” Pillai stated.
More than simply nourishment
Today, a lot of NASA’s shelf-stable food is thermally processed, or heated and packaged in pouches to make sure sterility. While efficient for food security, the method can alter texture, look and taste. Electron beam processing, in contrast, makes use of ionizing power fairly than warmth to remove dangerous microorganisms, which may also help protect food high quality whereas nonetheless assembly strict security necessities.
Because the method is steady fairly than batch-based, eBeam know-how can prepare more food for space travel, a possible benefit as non-public firms and worldwide space packages scale up human spaceflight for future journeys to the moon and probably Mars.
“You need a lot of food made,” he stated. “And food is psychological. People want to eat food not only for nourishment, but for psychological reasons.”
Preserving texture and visible enchantment of food turns into particularly vital on long-duration missions, equivalent to voyages to Mars or prolonged lunar stays, Pillai stated.
“The technology has come a long way since the 1960s. As missions evolve, space food systems should evolve with them.”
Suresh Pillai, Ph.D.
Director, National Center for Electron Beam Research
Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Raising outdated requirements
Current radiation dose requirements for space food have been established within the Nineteen Sixties, when sterilization science was nonetheless growing, Pillai stated.
“They reflect a time when understanding of radiation dose and sterility was in its infancy,” he stated.
NASA traditionally required a minimal dose of 44 kilograys for irradiated meals. Pillai stated trendy sterilization science, nevertheless, demonstrates that equal microbiological assurance could be achieved at considerably decrease doses, usually between 15 to twenty kilograys.
Lower doses may enhance food high quality whereas assembly security necessities.
National safety concerns
NASA has historically relied partially on cobalt-60 sources for food irradiation. Pillai stated newer electron beam and X-ray applied sciences provide benefits.
“There is no need to continue using cobalt-60,” he stated. “Electron beam reduces the risk.”
Cobalt-60 supplies carry safety and regulatory implications. Electron beam techniques, in contrast, are electrically generated and could be turned on and off, lowering long-term materials dangers.
Opening the door for industrial space food
Pillai stated advances in sterilization science have led different industries, equivalent to medical system manufacturing, to make use of dose-based sterility assurance fashions fairly than fastened minimal dose necessities.
Beyond ready-to-eat meals, Pillai’s graduate college students have additionally studied combining freeze-drying with electron beam processing to enhance the protection of delicate produce equivalent to strawberries and blueberries.
The method may scale back microbial dangers whereas preserving construction and taste, an interesting possibility for future crews spending months or years in space, he stated.
“The technology has come a long way since the 1960s,” Pillai stated. “As missions evolve, space food systems should evolve with them.”
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