Hi Avery!
Thanks for sharing your favorite meal. I hope to try it one day!
First, the challenges (or design opportunities!) in zero g:
– Separating the egg white from the yolk
– Keeping the avocado fresh (this is difficult on Earth too)
– Crumb flyaways from the bagel
Possible solutions:
– Prepare and package the egg white component before sending it to space
– In an ideal scenario, we could grow avocados in space! Otherwise, the green edible insides would need to be freeze-dried, and then rehydrated in space.
– Layer a few tortillas (less crumbs) and cut a hole in the middle with scissors so it looks like a bagel…ha!
– The raspberry iced tea flavor could be made into powdered juice in a foil pouch. I love the popping SOUND the Snapple bottle makes when you open to it, so I might listen to this sound with my headphones while drinking the ice tea to get the full sensory experience.
– You could use Virtual Reality to “visit” your favorite restaurant in Davis Square!
To answer your final question, YES, we are researching closed-loop food systems for space. Fermentation is one of the ways we’re exploring this topic. Learn more here: http://www.media.mit.edu/projects/space-fermentation/overview/
Let me know if you have any other questions!
Maggie
