What do astronauts eat to maintain a healthy but delicious diet in space? How do we grow nutritious crops in harsh conditions far from Earth? How can future lunar or Martian exploration missions provide enough food for their crews? And can these challenges help us improve food systems on Earth? You can be a part of answering these questions at any age and educational level!
This educational event will pique and satisfy your curiosity regarding questions like these and more by hearing from and asking questions of scientific experts, former NASA astronauts Alvin Drew and José Hernández, and people of all ages taking part in the innovative technology developments of the Deep Space Food Challenge and the citizen science experiments of the Plant the Moon Challenge. You will learn about the incredible advancements in food production technology and how you can be a part of the future of these initiatives.
The event is hosted by the Florida Space Grant Consortium, the Puerto Rico Space Grant Consortium, the University of Central Florida, NASA Centennial Challenges Program, and the Institute of Competition Sciences.
About the Deep Space Food Challenge:
In coordination with the Canadian Space Agency, NASA has conducted the Deep Space Food Challenge to generate new food production technologies or systems that require minimal resources and produce minimal waste, while providing safe, nutritious, and tasty food for long-duration human exploration missions. The Phase 1 winners for this challenge will be announced in late October 2021.
About the Plant the Moon Challenge:
For citizens of all ages daring enough to explore and stretch the limits of human possibility, the Plant the Moon Challenge is the perfect place to explore what it takes to grow nutrient-rich crops in lunar or Martian soil simulant as support to NASA’s Artemis program with the goal to return to the Moon in this decade. Teams of all ages (elementary, middle, high school, undergraduate, and professional categories) get the opportunity to explore this in a fall, spring or summer grow season. The next season begins in January 2022
When: Oct 12, 2021, 12:00 – 3:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: Space Food
Register in advance for this webinar:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hoooZbt-TLq8zW4K4WTMvw
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.