Mixing
Space vacuum food preservation
Clash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP
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2
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In a world I am creating, some people have colonized Ceres-like and Moon-like worlds - that is, they live in domes or underground, in pressurized buildings. The planets have no atmosphere for all practical purposes.
I am now working on such people's cultures, and I'm considering food. Would it be possible to use the vacuum of space to prepare, or at least conserve food?
What I imagine is exposing vegetables to the vacuum of space to dehydrate and freeze them at the same time. One could expose milk to vacuum to remove its water content and get condensed milk. Airlocks could double as cattle slaughtering devices - kill and freeze the meat in one go.
I'm also thinking that all that UV could help kill microbes, if the cold didn't already. Otherwise if radioactivity is an issue, food could be exposed to vacuum underground or in the shade of a hill or mountain.
Would this be feasible, or is it just another ignobel waiting for us to colonize space before it happens?
science-based reality-check space food
asked 3 hours ago
Renan
34.6k879177
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
In a world I am creating, some people have colonized Ceres-like and Moon-like worlds - that is, they live in domes or underground, in pressurized buildings. The planets have no atmosphere for all practical purposes.
I am now working on such people's cultures, and I'm considering food. Would it be possible to use the vacuum of space to prepare, or at least conserve food?
What I imagine is exposing vegetables to the vacuum of space to dehydrate and freeze them at the same time. One could expose milk to vacuum to remove its water content and get condensed milk. Airlocks could double as cattle slaughtering devices - kill and freeze the meat in one go.
I'm also thinking that all that UV could help kill microbes, if the cold didn't already. Otherwise if radioactivity is an issue, food could be exposed to vacuum underground or in the shade of a hill or mountain.
Would this be feasible, or is it just another ignobel waiting for us to colonize space before it happens?
science-based reality-check space food
asked 3 hours ago
Renan
34.6k879177
Possibly of interest to you worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/90815/40408
– Ash
3 hours ago
You don't want to kill animals with Airlocks. I've heard that if an animal dies with suffering its meats becomes hard and ugly. That is why we kill them instantly and painless.
– Ender Look
3 hours ago
@EnderLook koreans disagree, they eat their seafood still moving.
– Renan
2 hours ago
@Renan, seafood is very different than other kinds of foods. I'm talking more about cows, cattle, etc... mammals, not fish.
– Ender Look
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
up vote
2
down vote
favorite
In a world I am creating, some people have colonized Ceres-like and Moon-like worlds - that is, they live in domes or underground, in pressurized buildings. The planets have no atmosphere for all practical purposes.
I am now working on such people's cultures, and I'm considering food. Would it be possible to use the vacuum of space to prepare, or at least conserve food?
What I imagine is exposing vegetables to the vacuum of space to dehydrate and freeze them at the same time. One could expose milk to vacuum to remove its water content and get condensed milk. Airlocks could double as cattle slaughtering devices - kill and freeze the meat in one go.
I'm also thinking that all that UV could help kill microbes, if the cold didn't already. Otherwise if radioactivity is an issue, food could be exposed to vacuum underground or in the shade of a hill or mountain.
Would this be feasible, or is it just another ignobel waiting for us to colonize space before it happens?
science-based reality-check space food
asked 3 hours ago
Renan
34.6k879177
In a world I am creating, some people have colonized Ceres-like and Moon-like worlds - that is, they live in domes or underground, in pressurized buildings. The planets have no atmosphere for all practical purposes.
I am now working on such people's cultures, and I'm considering food. Would it be possible to use the vacuum of space to prepare, or at least conserve food?
What I imagine is exposing vegetables to the vacuum of space to dehydrate and freeze them at the same time. One could expose milk to vacuum to remove its water content and get condensed milk. Airlocks could double as cattle slaughtering devices - kill and freeze the meat in one go.
I'm also thinking that all that UV could help kill microbes, if the cold didn't already. Otherwise if radioactivity is an issue, food could be exposed to vacuum underground or in the shade of a hill or mountain.
Would this be feasible, or is it just another ignobel waiting for us to colonize space before it happens?
science-based reality-check space food
science-based reality-check space food
asked 3 hours ago
Renan
34.6k879177
asked 3 hours ago
Renan
34.6k879177
asked 3 hours ago
Renan
34.6k879177
asked 3 hours ago
Renan
34.6k879177
asked 3 hours ago
Renan
34.6k879177
34.6k879177
Possibly of interest to you worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/90815/40408
– Ash
3 hours ago
You don't want to kill animals with Airlocks. I've heard that if an animal dies with suffering its meats becomes hard and ugly. That is why we kill them instantly and painless.
– Ender Look
3 hours ago
@EnderLook koreans disagree, they eat their seafood still moving.
– Renan
2 hours ago
@Renan, seafood is very different than other kinds of foods. I'm talking more about cows, cattle, etc... mammals, not fish.
– Ender Look
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
Possibly of interest to you worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/90815/40408
– Ash
3 hours ago
You don't want to kill animals with Airlocks. I've heard that if an animal dies with suffering its meats becomes hard and ugly. That is why we kill them instantly and painless.
– Ender Look
3 hours ago
@EnderLook koreans disagree, they eat their seafood still moving.
– Renan
2 hours ago
@Renan, seafood is very different than other kinds of foods. I'm talking more about cows, cattle, etc... mammals, not fish.
– Ender Look
2 hours ago
Possibly of interest to you worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/90815/40408
– Ash
3 hours ago
Possibly of interest to you worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/90815/40408
– Ash
3 hours ago
You don't want to kill animals with Airlocks. I've heard that if an animal dies with suffering its meats becomes hard and ugly. That is why we kill them instantly and painless.
– Ender Look
3 hours ago
You don't want to kill animals with Airlocks. I've heard that if an animal dies with suffering its meats becomes hard and ugly. That is why we kill them instantly and painless.
– Ender Look
3 hours ago
@EnderLook koreans disagree, they eat their seafood still moving.
– Renan
2 hours ago
@EnderLook koreans disagree, they eat their seafood still moving.
– Renan
2 hours ago
@Renan, seafood is very different than other kinds of foods. I'm talking more about cows, cattle, etc... mammals, not fish.
– Ender Look
2 hours ago
@Renan, seafood is very different than other kinds of foods. I'm talking more about cows, cattle, etc... mammals, not fish.
– Ender Look
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
Considering that in space water is scarce, letting all the water from any food escape in the big big big emptiness sounds like a really poor idea. So, definitely a no no for vacuum dehydration.
Simple freezing by exposure to void seems also like an overkill: thawing an half ox for lunch would require a large amount of energy, and energy, guess what, is also scarce in space! In this case just put some heat exchanger in between space and the freezing cell, so that you can control temperature to the usual -20 Celsius. Also bear in mind that freezing a large carcass just by radiative dissipation might leave the core at "high temperature" for long enough to start to decompose.
Exposure to UV shall be carefully dosed: you want to sterilize the food, not breaking its molecules into unknown radicals. Also, keep in mind that bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years, so don't blindly rely on UV, remember to wash your hands!
Summarizing, it would be possible, but it has do be done in a smart way.
answered 3 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
65.5k20156309
1
"bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years" I'm amazed, and I gotta research it now!
– Renan
3 hours ago
@Renan, added reference to that in my answer. Sorry for not doing that earlier.
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
@L.Dutch pointed out why direct vacuum would not be a good idea but there is a way of using space vacuum indirectly.
- Cut the meat or vegetables into "use size" pieces. This makes the
cooling faster and allows you to heat smaller portions at one time. - Place between racks that are attached to shaded radiators. This
will allow conduction cooling which is much faster. - Then use a bladder exposed to vacuum to pull the air from the
chamber. That way, you don't lose the air or moisture.
Once the vacuum and cold have done their work, you can tilt the racks to dump the food into packages. After you seal the packages, compress the bladder, collect the condensed water, open the door and take out the dried and vacuum packed food.
answered 1 hour ago
ShadoCat
13.9k1849
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
4
down vote
Considering that in space water is scarce, letting all the water from any food escape in the big big big emptiness sounds like a really poor idea. So, definitely a no no for vacuum dehydration.
Simple freezing by exposure to void seems also like an overkill: thawing an half ox for lunch would require a large amount of energy, and energy, guess what, is also scarce in space! In this case just put some heat exchanger in between space and the freezing cell, so that you can control temperature to the usual -20 Celsius. Also bear in mind that freezing a large carcass just by radiative dissipation might leave the core at "high temperature" for long enough to start to decompose.
Exposure to UV shall be carefully dosed: you want to sterilize the food, not breaking its molecules into unknown radicals. Also, keep in mind that bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years, so don't blindly rely on UV, remember to wash your hands!
Summarizing, it would be possible, but it has do be done in a smart way.
answered 3 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
65.5k20156309
1
"bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years" I'm amazed, and I gotta research it now!
– Renan
3 hours ago
@Renan, added reference to that in my answer. Sorry for not doing that earlier.
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
Considering that in space water is scarce, letting all the water from any food escape in the big big big emptiness sounds like a really poor idea. So, definitely a no no for vacuum dehydration.
Simple freezing by exposure to void seems also like an overkill: thawing an half ox for lunch would require a large amount of energy, and energy, guess what, is also scarce in space! In this case just put some heat exchanger in between space and the freezing cell, so that you can control temperature to the usual -20 Celsius. Also bear in mind that freezing a large carcass just by radiative dissipation might leave the core at "high temperature" for long enough to start to decompose.
Exposure to UV shall be carefully dosed: you want to sterilize the food, not breaking its molecules into unknown radicals. Also, keep in mind that bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years, so don't blindly rely on UV, remember to wash your hands!
Summarizing, it would be possible, but it has do be done in a smart way.
answered 3 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
65.5k20156309
1
"bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years" I'm amazed, and I gotta research it now!
– Renan
3 hours ago
@Renan, added reference to that in my answer. Sorry for not doing that earlier.
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
4
down vote
up vote
4
down vote
Considering that in space water is scarce, letting all the water from any food escape in the big big big emptiness sounds like a really poor idea. So, definitely a no no for vacuum dehydration.
Simple freezing by exposure to void seems also like an overkill: thawing an half ox for lunch would require a large amount of energy, and energy, guess what, is also scarce in space! In this case just put some heat exchanger in between space and the freezing cell, so that you can control temperature to the usual -20 Celsius. Also bear in mind that freezing a large carcass just by radiative dissipation might leave the core at "high temperature" for long enough to start to decompose.
Exposure to UV shall be carefully dosed: you want to sterilize the food, not breaking its molecules into unknown radicals. Also, keep in mind that bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years, so don't blindly rely on UV, remember to wash your hands!
Summarizing, it would be possible, but it has do be done in a smart way.
answered 3 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
65.5k20156309
Considering that in space water is scarce, letting all the water from any food escape in the big big big emptiness sounds like a really poor idea. So, definitely a no no for vacuum dehydration.
Simple freezing by exposure to void seems also like an overkill: thawing an half ox for lunch would require a large amount of energy, and energy, guess what, is also scarce in space! In this case just put some heat exchanger in between space and the freezing cell, so that you can control temperature to the usual -20 Celsius. Also bear in mind that freezing a large carcass just by radiative dissipation might leave the core at "high temperature" for long enough to start to decompose.
Exposure to UV shall be carefully dosed: you want to sterilize the food, not breaking its molecules into unknown radicals. Also, keep in mind that bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years, so don't blindly rely on UV, remember to wash your hands!
Summarizing, it would be possible, but it has do be done in a smart way.
answered 3 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
65.5k20156309
edited 2 hours ago
answered 3 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
65.5k20156309
answered 3 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
65.5k20156309
answered 3 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
65.5k20156309
65.5k20156309
1
"bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years" I'm amazed, and I gotta research it now!
– Renan
3 hours ago
@Renan, added reference to that in my answer. Sorry for not doing that earlier.
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
1
"bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years" I'm amazed, and I gotta research it now!
– Renan
3 hours ago
@Renan, added reference to that in my answer. Sorry for not doing that earlier.
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
1
1
"bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years" I'm amazed, and I gotta research it now!
– Renan
3 hours ago
"bacteria have survived on the Moon for several years" I'm amazed, and I gotta research it now!
– Renan
3 hours ago
@Renan, added reference to that in my answer. Sorry for not doing that earlier.
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
@Renan, added reference to that in my answer. Sorry for not doing that earlier.
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
@L.Dutch pointed out why direct vacuum would not be a good idea but there is a way of using space vacuum indirectly.
- Cut the meat or vegetables into "use size" pieces. This makes the
cooling faster and allows you to heat smaller portions at one time. - Place between racks that are attached to shaded radiators. This
will allow conduction cooling which is much faster. - Then use a bladder exposed to vacuum to pull the air from the
chamber. That way, you don't lose the air or moisture.
Once the vacuum and cold have done their work, you can tilt the racks to dump the food into packages. After you seal the packages, compress the bladder, collect the condensed water, open the door and take out the dried and vacuum packed food.
answered 1 hour ago
ShadoCat
13.9k1849
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
@L.Dutch pointed out why direct vacuum would not be a good idea but there is a way of using space vacuum indirectly.
- Cut the meat or vegetables into "use size" pieces. This makes the
cooling faster and allows you to heat smaller portions at one time. - Place between racks that are attached to shaded radiators. This
will allow conduction cooling which is much faster. - Then use a bladder exposed to vacuum to pull the air from the
chamber. That way, you don't lose the air or moisture.
Once the vacuum and cold have done their work, you can tilt the racks to dump the food into packages. After you seal the packages, compress the bladder, collect the condensed water, open the door and take out the dried and vacuum packed food.
answered 1 hour ago
ShadoCat
13.9k1849
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
@L.Dutch pointed out why direct vacuum would not be a good idea but there is a way of using space vacuum indirectly.
- Cut the meat or vegetables into "use size" pieces. This makes the
cooling faster and allows you to heat smaller portions at one time. - Place between racks that are attached to shaded radiators. This
will allow conduction cooling which is much faster. - Then use a bladder exposed to vacuum to pull the air from the
chamber. That way, you don't lose the air or moisture.
Once the vacuum and cold have done their work, you can tilt the racks to dump the food into packages. After you seal the packages, compress the bladder, collect the condensed water, open the door and take out the dried and vacuum packed food.
answered 1 hour ago
ShadoCat
13.9k1849
@L.Dutch pointed out why direct vacuum would not be a good idea but there is a way of using space vacuum indirectly.
- Cut the meat or vegetables into "use size" pieces. This makes the
cooling faster and allows you to heat smaller portions at one time. - Place between racks that are attached to shaded radiators. This
will allow conduction cooling which is much faster. - Then use a bladder exposed to vacuum to pull the air from the
chamber. That way, you don't lose the air or moisture.
Once the vacuum and cold have done their work, you can tilt the racks to dump the food into packages. After you seal the packages, compress the bladder, collect the condensed water, open the door and take out the dried and vacuum packed food.
answered 1 hour ago
ShadoCat
13.9k1849
answered 1 hour ago
ShadoCat
13.9k1849
answered 1 hour ago
ShadoCat
13.9k1849
answered 1 hour ago
ShadoCat
13.9k1849
13.9k1849
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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Possibly of interest to you worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/90815/40408
– Ash
3 hours ago
You don't want to kill animals with Airlocks. I've heard that if an animal dies with suffering its meats becomes hard and ugly. That is why we kill them instantly and painless.
– Ender Look
3 hours ago
@EnderLook koreans disagree, they eat their seafood still moving.
– Renan
2 hours ago
@Renan, seafood is very different than other kinds of foods. I'm talking more about cows, cattle, etc... mammals, not fish.
– Ender Look
2 hours ago