Being an astronaut is very heavy. You have to fly the spaceship just so you don’t run into space junk, you have to make sure no hostile alien explodes through your torso, and you have to eat all sorts of weird, frozen food . Turns out these boring space foods are taxing – which is why NASA is willing to allocate up to $ 500,000 for a good idea that could allow astronauts to cultivate and eat fresh food in space through long-range space missions.
UPI reports that NASA and the Canadian Space Agency have teamed up for the Deep Space Food Challenge, where participants can win prize money for their ideas on new food transport, production and rotation in space. You can find all the details on the Deep Space Food Challenge website, including the challenge timeline. (Comment: Stage I registration closes May 28, with applications due July 30.) According to the challenge’s website, up to 20 top U.S. teams will receive $ 25,000 each from NASA before they competition in Stage 2. The website is unclear about the prize for winning Level 2, but specifies “up to $ 500,000. ”Also, some really good bragging rights.
Before you think too much, remember that any spaceship will have very few resources, space and facilities for preparing delicious food. Astronauts also don’t have much time to grow or prepare their own food. Finally, NASA is on tried and failed to cultivate food in space several times, including greens, radishes, and various yeast-grown nutrients. Are you up to the task? Teams from the US, Canada and beyond can register online now. If you win, your idea may boldly go where a salad has never gone before.