Mars to Table
A NASA Centennial Challenge powered by Deep Space Food Challenges
Designing integrated food systems for Mars, with impact on Earth.
How do we keep astronauts healthy, fulfilled, and ready for the challenges of deep space?
NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table invites innovators to reimagine what eating beyond Earth could look like.
Today’s space food system is mainly made up of pre-packaged foods that are prepared on Earth and shipped to the International Space Station.
As humans prepare for long-term lunar missions and set sights to Mars, space agencies will require transitioning to an Earth-independent and complete food system.
From 2021 to 2024, NASA – in partnership with the Methuselah Foundation and the Canadian Space Agency – successfully executed the Deep Space Food Challenge, which focused on identifying individual technologies with potential to contribute to the overall food production system.
The Challenge demonstrated what’s possible and identified an opportunity to look at how different concepts and technologies can integrate to make up a complete food system.
Future crews require food that is nutritious, enjoyable, and viable within the constraints and technologies of life far from Earth.
This challenge about It’s about creating complete, sustainable space food systems that integrate with habitats and life-support systems, support crew health and performance, and make the most of limited resources.
The best concepts will help NASA envision how future explorers might cultivate, prepare, and enjoy food during long-term missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The innovations sparked by this challenge could also transform life on Earth through offering new ways to produce food in remote, resource-limited, or extreme environments. From rural communities and military operations to disaster relief and polar expeditions, the solutions designed for space could help nourish people wherever survival depends on resilience and ingenuity.
First Step: Read the Rules
The Official Rules Document for NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge: Mars to Table serves as a comprehensive guide for how to succeed in the challenge. Teams are strongly encouraged to read and retain the information outlined within the rules. Clarifications, use cases, and further elaborations may be found within the Frequently Asked Questions.
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Driven by curiosity and built on purpose, this is where bold thinking meets thoughtful execution. Let’s create something meaningful together.