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From ancient Polynesian voyagers to present-day South Pole overwinter crews, lengthy sea voyages and polar exploration missions have all required specialized foods to sustain the crew over long periods of time in places with limited or no access to food in the local environment. Space missions continue this practice in a sense – present day astronauts consume a specialized diet too. Since cooking is nearly impossible in microgravity (search online for Sandra Magnus to learn the details) astronauts eat prepackaged rehydratable or ready-to-consume foods for all their meals. These meals are convenient to prepare and eat in microgravity and hundreds of different foods have been prepared for this purpose by space agencies worldwide. However, humans eating a restricted diet over a period of months ultimately experience "menu fatigue"“menu fatigue”. They tire of eating even the foods they enjoy, and their overall food intake declines, putting them at risk for nutritional deficiency, loss of bone and muscle mass, and reduced physical capabilities.
On a planetary surface mission, the presence of gravity makes cooking possible. The shelf life of properly packaged food ingredients is typically longer than that of pre-formulated foods, and bulk packaged ingredients require less packaging mass and generate less packaging waste than individual rehydratable meals. Furthermore, anecdotal evidence indicates that menu fatigue is far less significant when food is cooked on site from stored ingredients. With some skill and creativity on the part of the cook, an almost infinite variety of foods can be produced and customized to the needs and liking of the diners. Furthermore, the preparation and consumption of food is a social interaction for the crew, a creative process for the cook, and an important part of every human culture. The major disadvantage of cooking on a space mission is the requirement for crew labor and water for food preparation and cleanup. Crew time is very valuable, and the more time spent on housekeeping, maintenance, and food related tasks, the less is available for the mission's mission’s exploratory or scientific goals. The labor requirement per crewmember meal varies with the size of the crew, the number of foods prepared and the equipment and ingredients available, but very little is known about the break-even point in crew size, at which cooking would become more labor-efficient than eating instant foods out of individual packages.
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