New Scientist - USA (2022-06-04)

4 June 2022 | New Scientist | 27

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The columnist

Botanical gardens are

a haven for Beronda

L. Montgomery p28

Aperture

See neurons, nuclei

and more in a whole

new light p30

Letters

Could the climate be

saved with economic

degrowth? p32

Culture

Explore the science of

Doctor Who at a clever

new exhibition p34

Culture

Take a literary train

ride via physics and

mental health p36

I

N 2013, I lived in Hawai’i on
the side of the Mauna Loa
volcano, locked in a habitat
with five other engineers and
scientists to act out life on Mars
for 120 days. I was crew commander
of HI- SEAS I, the first NASA-funded
Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog
and Simulation mission.
Our main scientific work
was a food study, investigating
whether cooking with shelf-stable
ingredients, such as freeze-dried
meat and dehydrated vegetables,
could combat a phenomenon
called menu fatigue – which is a
loss of appetite caused by repeated
consumption of pre-prepared
meals. Ours went down a treat.
The environment of space
forces us to be resourceful. The
International Space Station is
about 400 kilometres from Earth,
so regular resupply is feasible but
costly. Once humanity ventures
deeper into space, a more radical
approach to sustainability will
have to be embraced. Applied back
on Earth, such an approach could
also profoundly ease terrestrial
food security challenges.
The world’s food systems are
already under significant strain
because of covid-19, and Russia’s
invasion of Ukraine has become
another threat to global food
security. Big challenges need
innovative solutions. And, as
improbable as it might seem,
space exploration might actually
help to secure our food future –
contributing to a more sustainable
and resilient global food system.
In space, rather than depending

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on resupplies, we need to learn

how to grow significant amounts

of food with a circular approach.

This means capturing human

waste and breaking it down into

nutrients for crops and other

edible organisms, while at the

same time using it to provide

oxygen and fresh water. I call

this “molecular sustainability”.

An example of such a

“closed loop” system is the

Micro- Ecological Life Support

System Alternative (MELiSSA)

program, managed by 14 partners

including the European Space

Agency. It is a minimal ecosystem

comprising five compartments

that are inhabited by different

organisms. Each compartment

has its own specific metabolic

function, and human waste gets

broken down through a sequence

of bioreactor types, each inhabited

by different microorganisms.

MELiSSA is developed by a

consortium of more than 50

organisations. There is currently

an operational pilot plant at

the Autonomous University of

Barcelona in Spain that connects

a number of compartments, with

rats used as proxies for astronauts.

Their urine and carbon dioxide

get recycled and used to grow

crops and edible microalgae.

This molecular sustainability,

in which every molecule counts,

stands in stark contrast to the

food waste problem here on Earth.

Every year, 1.3 billion tonnes of

food are wasted – roughly a third

of global food production. This

is unjustifiable, especially when

we are developing extraterrestrial

systems that are aiming to be

so efficient. We might never

eliminate all food waste on

Earth, but by using concepts

from space, we should be able to

significantly reduce the amount.

Collaborations such as the

Global Food Safety Initiative are

crucial to driving the scale and

pace of change we need. This

coalition brings together the food

industry’s biggest retailers and

manufacturers to oversee food

safety standards for businesses,

and it helps provide access to

safe and sustainable food for

people everywhere. At its recent

conference, I spoke about what we

can learn from space to improve

food security on Earth, hoping

to inspire experts from business,

government and academia.

Sometimes, taking a step away

from Earth can help us see things

more clearly. It is by considering

our life as a whole, both on and

off this planet, that we will be

able to create a more resilient

food future for all of humanity. ❚

Lessons from space

There is much we can learn from space exploration to help secure a

more sustainable food system on Earth, argues Angelo Vermeulen

Angelo Vermeulen

is a space systems

researcher, biologist

and artist