Astronauts living on the Moon and Mars will need to grow their own food.
The Canadian Space Agency and Impact Canada,
have selected 10 Canadian teams as part of the Deep Space Food Challenge,
a collaboration with NASA, to advance cutting-edge food production technologies.
On the International Space Station
and the other spaceflights I’ve been on,
we’ve brought all the food with us.
We’ve done early developmental testing of how some food might grow,
but we sure haven’t developed crops that crew could actually count on
for their sustenance and their livelihood.
And that’s where the Deep Space Food Challenge comes in:
developing and taking advantage of the new technologies,
so we can feed people and astronauts right across the solar system.
The Deep Space Food Challenge is looking for cutting-edge ideas
that could apply to space and to remote areas on Earth.
You know, food must be relatively easy to obtain, nutritious, and delicious.
Food is a symbol of community, and sharing a meal is how we all connect.
It’s part of what makes us who we are.
Fresh food in space also means fresh food, right here on Earth.
The challenges of growing food in Canada’s North are very similar to in space:
Harsh environment, limited supplies—and thus we need compact, simple, reliable solutions
that minimize inputs and reduce waste production.
In remote Gjoa Haven, Nunavut, we’ve teamed up with the local community
and partners at Naurvik, or the growing place.
Here, local technicians are using both traditional and Western techniques
to grow local crops and berries.
I didn’t know nothing about planting.
For the first time, planting something and seeing it growing – it was so exciting.
And I’m very thankful for the community, because we have this in our community.
The Deep Space Food Challenge semi-finalists
will receive funding to build prototypes of their food production technologies.
Not everyone can be an astronaut, but space exploration actually goes way beyond that.
This actually marks the beginning of a new era, where we shift away from science fiction
to turn creative design and engineering into reality.
And what’s great is that our ideas could improve life here on Earth.