sciencetech-blog

comments

Imagine the scene: you've just embarked on your mission to Mars and, for your first meal of a several-months long journey, you've got a rather unappetising plate of worms.

This, rather unappealingly, is a scenario Chinese scientists say could be the future of space exploration.

They claim worms are high in protein and are ideal for long space trips, and to prove it they shut three volunteers away for 105 days and placed them on a diet of just worms and plants.

Captain Xie Beizhen (centre) and crew members Wang Minjuan (right) and Dong Chen (left) of the 'Moon Palace One' pose for photos in front of the chamber for cultivating plants after living in the closed lab for 105 days on 20 May 2014 in Beijing, China

The volunteers, one man and two women, lived inside an enclosed biosphere at the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Known as Moon Palace One, the biosphere is 1,700 square feet (160 square metres) and has three rooms, one being living quarters and the other two greenhouses of sorts to grow plants and keep the worms.

Technology such as fuel cells allowed the volunteers to be self-sufficient.

The idea behind the study was to ascertain if eating worms for a prolonged amount of time was feasible in terms of both morale and nutrition for space missions.

According to the South China Morning Post, the idea has been met with criticism in the West where critics say, despite the high protein content, having to eat worms would lower morale in astronauts owing to their unappealing look and taste.

However, it appears the volunteers were more than happy to chow down on worms, suggesting it could be the meal of choice for future astronaut, known as taikonauts in China.

'It did take them some time to adapt to the diet,' Hu Dawei, a researcher involved in the project, told the SCMP.

'None of them had ever tried them as food before.

'The process was not difficult to manage. They all seemed healthy and happy throughout the experiment.'

The volunteers ate only laboratory-grown plants and insects such as mealworms (stock image shown). This was China's first manned test of the 'Moon Palace One', a 500-cubic metre (17,700 cubic feet) module that is China's first and the world's third bioregenerative life support base

Captain Xie Beizhen (front) and crew members Wang Minjuan (middle) and Dong Chen (rear) of the 'Moon Palace One' walk out of the closed lab clutching some of the plants they grew inside. It is hoped this experiment will help future space missions

Mealworms are said to be made of over 76 per cent protein, making them highly nutritious.

During this experiment, however, the volunteers weren't able to get all the nutrients they needed from the worms alone – some meals had to be supplemented with more regular foods.

They also fattened up the mealworms, which can grow to the size of a finger in a month, with plants.

The next stage for the research will be to add a third greenhouse to the Moon Palace One facility, which will enable a fourth volunteer to be added on a future experiment.

This should also mean the next set of volunteers can be entirely self-sufficient on worms and vegetables kept in the biosphere.

And ultimately it is hoped that the research could give future Chinese astronauts a suitable food source that is nourishing.

'The United Nations has recommended mealworms for starving people in poor areas such as Africa, so we thought why can't they be used by astronauts in space," Dawei continued.

'Worms may look disgusting at first glance, but they are actually the cleanest and healthiest food source.'

China's manned space programme began in 2003 and has come on leaps and bounds since then. Here, Chinese watch the launch of China's first manned space flight at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern province of Gansu on 15 October with China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, on board