NASA study concludes - as we kind of knew - that current food systems are inadequate for long-duration spaceflights without compromising crew members' health and performance. There was a good episode of Nova Science Now on this subject a month or two ago. Seems that blueberries are a magic food in helping to prevent DNA/cell damage from cosmic radiation.
But still:
"If we go to Mars, we need a five year shelf life of food and that means we need to start looking at new technologies to start preserving the food," said Michele Perchonok, Advanced Food Technology Manager at NASA and one of the study authors.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110305133527.htm
For long-duration missions like Mars, I don't see how there's any way around the need to grow some of the food in the spacecraft. And for that, we're going to need a much bigger capsule than Orion. Calling Bigelow...
What's also interesting is the potential spinoff health applications of this research for human health back on Earth.
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