By Nicole Muczynski Sarah Geller Molly Richardson Mission to Mars By Nicole Muczynski Sarah Geller Molly Richardson

Daily Diet In an astronauts daily diet they need… Grains Vegetables Fruits Dairy Protein Factors for packaging food… Scientists from NASA have to plan 7,000 meals and snacks for 6 people for up to 3 years! You lose flavor, nutrients, and texture over time from food in plastic packaging Foil is too heavy for Mars 22,000 pounds of food at the cost of about a million dollars per pound

Food Preservation-methods of storing food so it can be used in the future Freeze-drying food- removing water from material while still keeping the basic structure and composition of the food. Keeps food from spoiling for a long period of time, and reduces weight of food. Preservatives-sugar, vinegar, salt, and alcohol delay the spoilage of food. Exclusion of air- air makes food go bad An early method of preserving food was partially cooking it, sealing it in a glass bottle with a cork, then putting the bottle in boiling water, like the canning process. Louis Pasteur came up with pasteurization which was a big progressive step towards food preservation. Aluminum tubes work pretty well in space. Astronauts add cold or hot water to freeze dried food or they heat food pouches in an electric warmer Thermostabilized-killing germs with heat

Space Menu Breakfast menu- Astronauts pick food 6 months ahead of takeoff to space Water is available for every meal An electric warmer to warm food is located in the spacecraft Salt and Pepper are available Breakfast menu- Dried fruit (peaches, strawberries, bananas, raisins, blueberries, and apples) granola bars, bagel chips Applesauce (the first food consumed in space!)

Space Menus continued Lunch and dinner menu- Vegetables (carrots, broccoli, beans) Fruits (peaches, strawberries, bananas, raisins, blueberries, and apples) Macaroni and cheese Spaghetti Tuna fish Thermostabilized chicken Freeze-dried pork

Bibliography http://www.google.com http://www.nasa.gov http://www.spacecenter.org/docs/Activities-SpaceFood.pdf http://kids.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=foodpres http://videos.howstuffworks.com/nasa/2203-how-food-preservation-works-video.htm http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/space-food.html http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/fresh-ideas/dinner-food-facts/freeze-drying1.htm