In that new Matt Damon movie, an astronaut stranded on a Mars-bound spacecraft survives by growing his own food in space. NASA already figured out how to make that happen with their study on growing vegetable in space — but now, the space agency is working on a new initiative to turn human poop (you read that right) into food.
They have been granted $200,000 to spend on the project per year, for up to three years of research, according to a NASA press release. "Technology drives exploration, and investments in these technologies and technologists is essential to ensure NASA and the nation have the capabilities necessary to meet the challenges we will face as we journey to Mars," said Steve Jurczyk, one of NASA's associate administrators in Washington. These guys think of everything.
The waste-to-food thing is just one of the many proposals that have been selected to receive grant money — others will focus on solar cells that can perform at high temperatures and the applications of synthetic biology in space travel. No word yet on whether or not the man-made food will actually taste any good, though.
[via NASA]
