"Crafting the Ideal Vegetarian Meal for Mars-bound Astronauts"
Researchers have developed an optimal vegetarian salad for male astronauts on long-term space missions to Mars, consisting of soybeans, poppy seeds, barley, kale, peanuts, sweet potato, and sunflower seeds. This meal is designed to meet the higher caloric and micronutrient needs of astronauts in microgravity while also being sustainable and tasty. The ingredients can be grown in space, minimizing resource use and waste. Taste tests have shown positive results, and future research will focus on meals for female astronauts and expanding ingredient variety.