NASA seeks out-of-this-world food technology

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA, of course) has launched a competition to develop a critical source of fuel for its most important technology: it needs help developing new food processing technology for its astronauts.

NASA is providing up to one million shiny reasons to enter the competition, which is called the Deep Space Food Challenge. Competitors are tasked with developing food production technologies that allow astronauts on long-term flights to have access to nutritious food that would otherwise be susceptible to spoilage or is potentially at risk of destruction in a catastrophic disaster. Developing food-making facilities and technologies that can circumvent these rather disruptive issues is the key challenge of the competition.

The space agency is specifically looking for technologies that are novel and produce nutritious food safely, with minimal inputs.

Unfortunately, while the competition is open to international competitors, the cash prize of up to US$1 million is only available for those based in the US so you’ll have to settle for bragging rights and official recognition from NASA if you win.

For more details on how to register for the competition, visit www.deepspacefoodchallenge.org/register.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/ALEXANDR YURTCHENKO