For the past four months, six researchers have been living in a small dome on a barren Hawaii lava field at an elevation of 8,000 feet, attempting to figure out what kinds of foods astronauts might eat during a mission to Mars and during deep-space missions.
On Tuesday, the researchers emerged from the Mars-like environment with their recipes, and the space suits that they were forced to wear each time they ventured out of the dome and on to the northern slope of Mauna Loa.
Each of the six researchers who participated in the NASA-funded study were selected by the University of Hawaii and Cornell University. They were charged with preparing meals from a list of dehydrated, preserved foods that are not perishable. They whipped up meals themselves in an attempt to combat food boredom and malnutrition, and concocted meals similar to what astronauts currently eat.
The two-story dome where the researchers have been living for the past few months features small sleeping quarters, an exercise room, and a kitchen.
Team commander Angelo Vermeulen said what is important for future space missions is comfort food. One of the crew's favorite foods was the chocolate-hazelnut spread known as Nutella. Vermeulen noted:
"It's something we craved. We had a limited supply so we had to ration it."
The study also included an open call for recipes that involved a great deal of Spam. It was a common ingredient in suggested recipes because of its shelf-life. The researchers prepared a number of dishes with Spam, including a Caju jambalaya and a fried rice noodle dish.
Kim Binsted, a UH-Manoa associate professor who is an investigator on the study, said that Hawaii's temperate weather and Mauna Loa's geological features were the perfect setting for the study, dubbed the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS). She said, "It looks like Mars."
Having emerged from the Mars-like environment, the researchers will now spend several days in debriefings. They'll certainly be disoriented, and have requested a beach outing before returning to their normal lives.
Binsted says that it will take months to process all of the data that was gathered during the study, but she hopes to present the findings at the International Astronautical Congress to be held later this year in Beijing, China.
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