NASA is spending $125,000 to fund a 3D developer that can create pizza for the astronauts.
Anjan Contractor, a senior mechanical engineer at Systems and Materials Research Corporation (SMRC) in Austin, Texas, is in charge of developing the said printer. Once successful, it will benefit those working at the International Space Station and Mars.
NASA is willing to fund such advancement in response to the usual complaints of the astronauts about eating the same type of food. They had to endure this problem since not all foods in Earth can last years in space. Food supplies in space are replenished every year or every other year. According to NASA, the food supplies are usually refrigerated, frozen, and ambient.
The fund provided to the 3D food printer developer is a portion of the funds of the agency’s Small Business Innovation Research program. The amount was just for the Phase 1 part of the product. Contractor was able to convince NASA to fund his research after a demonstration of the 3D printer printing chocolate chips.
So how will he use the 3D printer to make a pizza? His demonstration revealed stages of it which starts at printing the dough, cooking it while preparing the toppings and sauce, then another printing step for the pizza. The 3D printer is designed to analyze the components of the pizza and produce its toppings using oils and powders that will result to a foodstuff that will taste, smell, and look like a real pizza. It may probably last up to 30 years.
The pizza making 3D printer is expected to complete by the end of the year.
This technology once triumphant may change the way we prepare foods in the future. It will also be the main source of food when we start our Mars mission by 2030 and will provide more food options to our astronauts than their existing 200 items in the Daily Menu created by NASA.
