← Back to NASA Technology Projects
Active TRL 5 (started at 5, targeting 7)
Food and nutrition are critical to health and performance and therefore the success of human space exploration. Some quality factors and nutrients within the shelf-stable, packaged food system currently in use on the International Space Station (ISS) can degrade over long timelines when stored at 21°C, which can impact nutritional intake and ultimately health and performance. Food degradation is a complex chemical kinetics and thermodynamic process which can be slowed by reducing temperature. Current data on space food shelf-life demonstrates refrigeration and frozen storage is necessary to maintain some nutrient and quality factors, but current cold storage systems are too resource heavy for consideration on a Mars mission due to the quantity of food that would require cold storage. New technological approaches may be required to meet Mars mission challenges in addition to the already difficult task of operating refrigeration systems with little or no gravity. Maximizing efficiency and minimizing mass and volume require identification of the most favorable cooling technologies in this unique environment to extend food shelf-life to 5 years to meet mission timelines up to 5 years. The objective of this project is to develop the best cold storage system for food on a Mars mission, including the transit and surface phases of the mission.
Maximizing efficiency and minimizing mass and volume of critical food refrigeration systems will help Mars transit and surface habitation systems meet their resource constraints.
Listed on TechPort itself — the most direct way to ask about this specific project.
This is early/mid-stage (TRL 5) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.
None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.