Life in the Space: Growing Food, Brewing Beer and Making Things

Forty-six years after the last flight to the moon, humans are within a decade of setting foot on Mars.

Like the early explorations of Asia and the New World centuries ago, March will last for years. Depending on Mars' position relative to Earth's orbit, it will probably take about nine months to get there. But to arrive will only be the beginning. These pioneering astronauts will have to spend another 500 days on the red planet until its orbit is aligned with that of Earth, then travel again nine months to return home. So what should we do to keep them well supplied and healthy?

In a word, everything.

NASA researchers and companies are working on ways to grow nutritious green vegetables, make spare parts on the fly (literally), brew drinks – even develop technology that repairs itself – to help astronauts to spend years without outside help.

Some experiments are more advanced than others, but all play an important role in accomplishing difficult tasks.

"The day we set foot on Mars will be an incredible day, but there will be a lot of mundane things that will lead to this," says NASA's director of testing Ralph Fritsche . 19659002] Here are some of the most interesting space experiments that will help humans survive, and even thrive, on Mars

Eat Your Green Vegetables

We've come a long way since 1962 when John Glenn, the first Scientists did not know if humans could swallow food in space, let alone digest it.

Snacking baby food has never been so risky.

But after decades of service in microgravity, the new task of researchers is to provide fresh food in the space. That's why NASA has built the vegetable production system, better known as Veggie. Onboard the International Space Station since 2014, the growth chamber uses LED lighting and water tanks under bags of soil, baked clay, controlled release fertilizer and seeds

. Nutritious and safe source of fresh food and a tool to support relaxation and recreation. "

Well, that gives" new your own "sense.

Up to now, Veggie has been used to grow red romaine lettuce, cabbage, mustard leaves and zinnias. The original lettuce crop has been frozen and returned to Earth for testing for harmful microbes. Fortunately, the salad is safe.

"When [astronauts] comes back, they will often say," I thought I would miss a pizza or a cheeseburger, and the first thing I wanted was a salad, "says Gioia Massa, a project scientist. from NASA who led Veggie's science team. Massa says NASA plans to grow tomatoes in the fall.

There is also the nutritional aspect. Many vitamins and minerals, including C, B6, thiamine and folic acid, degrade over time. As tempting as it may be dehydrated salmon (mmmm, dehydrated salmon!), It will not contain the same nutritional punch as fresh foods. The vegetation grown in space could fill some nutrient gaps

As the worm turns

Believe it or not, worms could offer clues to help things and people regenerate. Planarian flatworms, in particular. This is because these flatworms can be cut into pieces, and each piece will turn into a whole new worm.

Four years ago, Tufts University sent flatworm segments in space to see what was going to happen. The results of the experiments on the worms were a bit odd: one of the middle parts of the worms pushed an extra head.

The researchers still do not know why, but they hope that a new insight into the planar regeneration of tapeworms could someday help combat spinal cord injury, degenerative brain disease, and stroke. ;heart failure. They also hope that such an understanding could lead to a technology that automatically detects damage and corrects itself – a considerable advantage when you are 140 million miles from the nearest repair shop.

Built in space

payload book in orbit, according to NASA. We will have to pack the light.

Or we can simply build what we need when we need it.

"Let's jump off the pitch," says Matt Napoli, vice president of Made In Space, whose slogan is "Dream Build among the Stars," pretty much sums up his mission. "

"Let's skip this whole process and build things where they are needed, whether in space, on the moon, or on Mars."

The Death Star architects would probably agree.

In the past two years, the company's Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) provided 3D printing on the International Space Station. Manufacturing is controlled from the ground.

NASA and commercial customers use the AMF as a service for manufacturing parts, tools, assemblies and medical equipment.

But first, the Mountain View Company, California work in the space. Its engineers realized, for example, that the heat that melted the raw material gathered at the extruder in microgravity instead of dissipating in the air as on Earth. They had to find a way to spread the heat. Made In Space was also to determine whether microgravity would prevent printed layers from sticking together, and whether fumes from melted materials would be safe to breathe in the ISS atmosphere.

Up to now, they have printed everything, finger-splints keys (in case an astronaut floats in a wall and stuck a finger). They even printed a piece for their first 3D printer

The production was small scale, but Made in Space sees "a future where life and work in space are commonplace". This ultimately means large-scale construction projects.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of the Amazon, also wants to move the Earth industry so that we produce things there rather than going down here. "We have to protect [Earth] and the only way to really protect it is to finally … move the heavy industry away from the Earth," said Bezos, who also founded the Blue Origin airline, to the BBC last year.

someone must keep an eye on our big blue marble when everyone focuses on the red planet

Drink up to

Imagine getting off a spaceship after months in space. You would be forgiven for wanting to open a cold.

The trip is exhausting.

Budweiser is a step ahead of you. The parent company Anheuser-Busch wants to conquer the March beer market

"We wondered if life on Mars would be good if you could not enjoy a cool beer?" says Ricardo Marques, vice president of marketing for Budweiser. Last year, the company announced its goal of being the first beer on Mars.