It’s something you don’t think about much living in our modern society. You go to the grocery store and buy food, take it home and prepare meals, and store perishables either before or after they are cooked in the “frig.” But what about the food the astronauts eat?
Up to now, from the beginning of the space program to flights to the international space station, food has been pre-prepared on earth and stored in ways that it does not need to be cooked or refrigerated. For astronauts who will travel to Mars, however, that won’t work. It will take them years to get there and years to get back, and they will stay on Mars for an extended amount of time. Not only will they need fresh food, much of it grown themselves, and ways to cook the food, they will also need refrigeration.
The problem is our earth-bound refrigerators will not work in space, or “microgravity,” to put it scientifically. A recent ASME article provides the background on the major challenges in providing a microgravity refrigerator. This 21st century challenge could prove to be an even greater one than the 20th century development of our modern refrigerators to replace the 19th century “ice box.” – Dr. Tom
