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In preparation for a future manned mission to Mars, food-processing systems are being developed for use during the anticipated 18-month stay on the planet’s surface. Design of these prototypes address the special needs of a self-contained environment necessary to support the crew during the long-term mission. This self-contained environment will be a bio-regenerative life support system, dubbed BIO-Plex, and will house the crew and all appurtenant life support and scientific research equipment. Designs of food processing systems in such an environment address limited space requirements, minimal energy and water use, minimal waste stream generation, low equipment weight, limited crew task time, and high-quality food production which satiates the nutritional and psychological needs of the crew. Additionally, the system must function in a 0.3g - environment.

In anticipation of longer duration space flights, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is working to address the adverse psychological effects that the crew is expected to encounter. The effects of these stresses can be countered by positive influences of the environment upon the crew. The addition of fresh salad crops, such as radishes and carrots, to the menu is suggested as one way to alleviate the stresses encountered. The food systems proposed will require harvests of these types of crops and therefore measures to preserve their freshness and extend shelf life for later use. This type of food system requires the development of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) plans for the post-harvest treatment of radishes and carrots in order to extend their shelf lives.

As the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) begins to look towards longer duration space flights, the importance of fresh foods and varied menu choices increases. Long duration space missions require development of both a Transit Food System and a Lunar or Planetary Food System. These two systems are intrinsically different since the first one will be utilized in the transit vehicle in microgravity conditions while the second will be used in conditions of partial gravity (hypogravity). The Transit Food System will consist of prepackaged food of extended shelf life. Microgravity imposes significant limitations on the ability of the crew to handle food and allows only for minimal processing. Salad crops will be available for the planetary mission. Supplementing the transit food system with salad crops is also being considered. These crops will include carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, radish, spinach, chard, cabbage, and onion.

The quantitative analysis of the food system for long-term space missions is a crucial factor for the comparison of different food plans and for the evaluation of the food system as part of the overall mission. Such analysis should include important factors such as nutrition, palatability, diet cycle length, and psychological issues related to food. This paper will give the details of a mathematical model that was developed during the first author's participation as a Summer Faculty Fellow at Johnson Space Center. The model includes nutrition, palatability, diet cycle length, and psychological issues as important components. The model is compatible with the Equivalent System Mass (ESM) metric previously developed as the Advance Life Support (ALS) Research and Technology Metric.