NASA Astronauts' Breakfast Bars: They Are Not That Appetizing As We Think

One of the problems that NASA is facing sending astronauts in space is the food supply. This is especially for the long travel like going to the planet Mars. Recently, the agency has formulated the easiest and convenient food to feast on but it is not as appetizing to look at.

In the International Space Station or the ISS, the astronauts have 200 meal options to choose from. It is a big amount of food selection in space. However, in the deep space missions such as the planet Mars, it seems that NASA is up for a challenge.

In a report by NBC News, NASA has formulated calorie-laden breakfast bars. Thus, astronauts may be forced to munch these during the deep space missions in the near future.

Astronauts of the Future Will Feast on Calorific Bars - https://t.co/yuFi5LsnM2 https://t.co/9NoXG218L9

— NYTribune Science (@nytrbscience) November 25, 2016

Since they will not be able to receive an additional cargo, as the astronauts will be traveling inside the Orion spacecraft from NASA, they just have to take what only they will be needing the most. It means that the newly formulated calorie-laden breakfast bars may be the right choice for them to save room.

According to NASA, the deputy health and medical technical authority for Orion, Jessica Vos, shared in a statement that, "When you have 700 to 900 calories of something, it's going to have some mass regardless of what shape it's in, so we've taken a look at how to get some mass savings by reducing how we're packaging and stowing what the crew would eat for breakfast for early Orion flights with crew."  

However, the calorie-laden breakfast bars are still a work in progress. The agency is still working on getting that taste right.

Meanwhile, aside from the calorie-laden bars, NASA is also exploring ways on how will the astronauts grow food in space. This is because it is really difficult to send additional food supplies during their long-term travel.