SpaceX: Can we grow meat in space?

It was a small pilot step to test a potential source of nutrition, but perhaps a big step forward – or so the test leaders hope – for future space travel.

The experiment was conceived by Aleph Farms, an Israeli company specializing in growing meat from cells. It is led by the first completely private astronaut crew to visit the International Space Station.

Skeptics, however, say the method is too unstable for astronauts to trust – and growing meat in space will never be easier than bringing it in from Earth.

Growing meat from cells is not easy, especially on a large scale, even on Earth. Aleph Farms is one of many companies trying to produce “cultural meat”, but it is the first to try to do so in space.

The company does not like to use the term “laboratory-grown meat”, but in reality this process is nothing like a traditional farm.

The cells of a cow (but it can be any animal) receive the elements necessary for their growth, such as amino acids and carbohydrates. Cells multiply until muscle tissue is formed, and eventually they turn into meat you can eat. This process is called “cultivation” or “proliferation”.

The meat is grown in vessels that are more similar to what you would find in a brewery than a farm. The life cycle of an animal bred for meat – birth, life and slaughter – is completely bypassed.

Enthusiasts say the process has potentially positive consequences for the environment, which, for example, drastically reduces methane emissions.

Zvika Tamari, who heads Aleph Farm’s space program, says scientists do not know if this process can be copied without gravity.

“We know from many previous scientific studies that physiology and biology behave very differently in a microgravity environment … So in fact, we do not know, no one knows whether these cultural processes of meat dispersal can actually occur in space.”

So when on April 8, four men hovered in space aboard a SpaceX rocket, for the first private mission to the International Space Station, they took a small container the size of a box with them shoes containing animal cells – and all that they need to cultivate.

Larry Connor, Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, accompanied by former astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria. They were scheduled to return to space on Sunday, April 24, after which the cells will be carefully analyzed.

Although the experiment is a success and there is evidence that meat can be grown in space, it does not necessarily mean that it is a good idea.

There is a reason why local supermarkets are not stocked with cell-grown meat. In fact, even though hundreds of millions of dollars have flowed into the industry (Leonardo DiCaprio is an investor in Aleph Farms), it is a difficult food to produce on a scale.

In addition, Aleph Farms is still awaiting regulatory approval in Israel before it can serve it at restaurants. These are foods that have not yet established themselves on Earth, let alone in space.

Growing meat in the room presents other more practical problems. The first is the issue of sterility.

“Animal cells grow slowly,” says David Humbird, a chemical engineer at Berkeley.

“If a bacterium or fungus got into the culture, it would grow much faster than animal cells and take over, so you don’t produce more animal cells. You make bacteria. And you have to throw them out,” explains Mr. Humbird.

Aleph Farms believes that the problem of infertility can be solved, especially in the room where relatively small amounts of meat are to be produced. But pollution would be catastrophic for a community on Mars – the space equivalent to a crop failure.

Aleph Farms also claims that transporting food to space is extremely expensive. Figures vary widely, but a 2008 NASA estimate estimates the cost of transporting a pound of payload into Earth’s orbit at $ 10,000.

It would cost a lot more to bring a kilo of food to Mars.

“Mars is millions and millions of miles away, so it’s a huge advantage to be able to produce its food locally on the spot,” says Tamari.

However, Humbird disagrees with this potential benefit.

“Cells that are themselves grown on edible material will consist of sugar, amino acids and water. And the caloric value of the cells you make will always be less than that,” he says.

“At best, you could probably remove 25% of the calories and consume them as food. So the question is, why would you take all those calories out into the room just to spend 75%?”

But there are other considerations to consider when planning long-distance space missions – such as the mental health of astronauts.

Karen Nyberg is a former NASA astronaut who spent five and a half months on the International Space Station. She is now on the Advisory Board for Aleph Farms.

According to her, food plays a crucial role in the psychological well-being of a crew.

“The food comes in these white bags that you just have to moisten, like powdered milk and that sort of thing … I would like to smell the sautéed garlic and the olive oil. Olives, and that’s something we do not have. And then all we can have to bring him home, I think would be great. “

For Mrs Nyberg, fresh food and vegetables are essential if people are to be off the ground for years.