The term "cultured meat" has become a buzz word for the health food industry. This refers to meat produced in a lab using cell cultures from animals. Alternative meat is vital to combatting climate change by removing one of the main causes of deforestation and bovine methane emissions. It is an eco-friendly way of guaranteeing food security in an era of climate change.
Is it possible to feed astronauts on long-duration missions or live for extended periods beyond Earth? In this case, cultured meat would be a way of fulfilling the needs of astronauts who would otherwise be dependent on vegetables. The possibility is currently being explored by the European Space Agency and could be a game-changer for future missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond!
The creation of a lunar base and other vital infrastructure is one of the things that the NASA and the European Space Agency plan to do in the near future. This will allow for a sustained program of lunar exploration, given the amount of time it takes to send craft from Earth to the Moon.
Paolo Corradi proposed the idea of using cultured meat to fulfill the nutrition requirements of astronauts. On January 6th, 2021, the ESA invited industry and academia to apply for funding to further develop the concept. Corradi explained in a recent press release.
“For long-term human exploration missions far from Earth, we would need to transport a large amount of long-shelf-life food. This comes with the risk of food becoming degraded over time or even lost, which would significantly limit the degree of self-sustainability and resilience of the mission. And, of course, the conventional production of animal-based food, as meat, in space would be unthinkable.”
The effects of long-term exposure to lunar gravity is one of the biggest challenges of living and working on the Moon. Long-term exposure to microgravity results in muscle loss, bone density loss, and effects to cardiovascular health, organ function, eyesight, and even genetic changes.
Sending livestock to the Moon and other locations beyond Earth is impractical. cultured meat, which is seen as a potential solution to one of the main drivers of climate change, could be a potential means for establishing food security in space. Christel Paille is an environment control and life support engineer who is working with Paolo.
“So, if we want to succeed in long-term human exploration far from Earth, we need to rethink our current approach to astronaut nutrition and provide the means to efficiently produce food on board, possibly integrated within the regenerative life support system.”
A German team made up of yuri and Reutlingen University, and a UK team made up of Kayser Space, Cellular Agriculture, and Campden BRI were selected to work parallel to develop the technology further. Paolo will be in charge of the teams which will begin by analyzing and comparing cultured meat and other alternatives.
The requirements for astronauts and future human spaceflight missions will be established in the second step. The teams will be supported by the Space Medicine team and engineers from the Columbus laboratory.
The teams will come up with a preliminary design for use in space, which will be assessed based on their feasibility and performance. They will be compared with other methods for producing and shipping food. The teams will assess the potential commercial applications of their concepts, both for use on Earth and in space. The chief science officer of yuri explained the benefits of the project.
“The research activities of our project team on cultured meat were so far exclusively focused on applications on Earth. This project will widen our focus and allow us to transfer elements of our existing work to space applications in follow-up projects. In addition, the results of the study will help draw our attention and research efforts to the most crucial issues regarding the feasibility of cultured meat production.”
The project gives us the chance to consider the challenges of life support systems operating beyond low-Earth orbit, in long-duration space missions and different gravity environments.
Meat production is a major cause of environmental degradation. In developing nations, forests are cleared to make room for cattle-ranching. Billions of animals die every year from diseases that the industry facilitates the spread of. Conventional meat production will become more and more unsustainable.
More research is needed to mature the production technology for cultured meat. This research could help mature the technology needed to grow cultured meat with greater efficiency and quantity on Earth. This contribution is consistent with the United Nations.
Space-based research could lead to applications on Earth. To quote Dr. Sian Proctor, "solving for space solve for Earth."
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