ASTRONOSH is a regenerative food system that produces nutritious, tasty fare for astronauts in Space, and people on Earth. It features a living microfarm, where insects are transformed into intensely flavorful fare, producing a range of delectable food experiences that are highly personalized. Our technology puts biology to work, to deliver healthy eats with robust flavors, wherever reliable access to intensely flavorful food may be limited.
Insects are known to be a sustainable food alternative, while also being delicious and versatile, so they’ve been a major staple for billions of people on Earth, across many centuries and cultures. Our ASTRONOSH system leverages that diversity, to produce bespoke delectables that will alleviate menu fatigue for astronauts, and significantly enhance conventional meal offerings.
Our system accomplishes this by producing a range of highly-personalized food choices that are on-demand and made-to-order. But unlike other comprehensive food systems, we are combining farming, processing, and food preparation into a single, unified work of technology that is regenerative. Yet, our living system is not linear; it’s been designed to be circular and sustainable, because deep space missions will require reliable food systems that continuously produce safe, nutritious, and flavorful food for years.
And, ASTRONOSH could benefit humans on Earth, today! From remote Arctic regions to urban food deserts, a self-sufficient food system would provide more independence, while promoting the healthy benefits of a food source that is already common in many places beyond the United States.
ASTRONOSH was created for the Deep Space Food Challenge, a program that’s sponsored by NASA and the Canadian Space Agency.
Project Team
- Ann Dinh, Rhode Island School of Design
- Connor Lambrecht, New York University
- Johanna Weber, Ryerson University
- Joseph Yoon, Brooklyn Bugs
- Matthew C. Wilkes, New York University
- Mitchell Joachim, Terreform ONE
- Oliver Medvedik, Cooper Union
- Peter Yeadon, Team Leader, Yeadon Space Agency