Vegan astronauts to Mars; animal consciousness proven to exist

The next logical step after successfully landing an unmanned mission to Mars would be for humans themselves to set foot on the Red Planet. For that mission, though, the stakes are set exponentially higher, the risks unimaginably greater.

One of the most important areas of consideration for such an extended space travel for humans would be the diet of the astronauts. The crucial question: What kind of foods, and what suitable nutrition plan, would tide the space explorers over months and months of being out in space?

Plant-based diet

Scientists have recently been hatching a dietary plan for the eventual Mars explorers, and most notable about this plan is that it doesn’t involve any animal products whatsoever. Vegetarianism and space exploration are not strange bedfellows, however. There have been astronauts in the past who have personally preferred not to have meat included in their food fare in space.

What is groundbreaking is that the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) is attempting to integrate the plant-based diet in its space exploration program. Soon, space vegetarianism, or even veganism, may debut as the “official diet” of the first manned mission to Mars.

That “soon” may not become a reality until year 2030 or so, but as early as now Nasa scientists are beginning studies for 100-percent vegan food for astronauts. According to a report, it would take six months for a manned mission to get to Mars, 18 months to stay there, and another six months to travel back to Earth, for a total of 30 months. Fox news, in its foxnews.com  scitech section on July 17, 2012 wrote about an interview with Maya Cooper, senior research scientist with Lockheed Martin, which had been leading the efforts to build the menu.

Martian greenhouse

Cooper and her staff in the Johnson Space Center in Houston, according to the article, are considering delegating a “Martian greenhouse” to the astronauts’ care. The article said that “they (astronauts) would have a variety of fruits and vegetables—from carrots to bell peppers—in a hydroponic solution, meaning they would be planted in mineral-laced water instead of soil. The astronauts would care for their garden and then use those ingredients, combined with others, such as nuts and spices brought from Earth, to prepare their meals.”

Cooper was quoted as saying: “That menu is favorable because it allows the astronauts to actually have live plants that are growing, you have optimum nutrient delivery with fresh fruits and vegetables, and it actually allows them to have freedom of choice when they’re actually cooking the menus because the food isn’t already pre-prepared into a particular recipe.”

Cooper also said, “The top priority is to ensure that the astronauts get the proper amount of nutrients, calories and minerals to maintain their physical health and performance for the life of the mission.”

Human-like consciousness

Meanwhile, as humans explore extraterrestrial worlds, scientists discover more on home planet Earth. Prominent scientists have recently declared the existence of consciousness of non-human species. George Dvorsky’s io9.com  discussed the news that “prominent scientists (have signed) a declaration that animals have conscious awareness, just like us.” In his article, he cited that “an international group of prominent scientists has signed The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness proclaiming their support for the idea that animals are conscious and aware to the degree that humans are—a list of animals that includes all mammals, birds, and even the octopus.”

Dvorsky said that the group consists of cognitive scientists,  neuropharmacologists, neurophysiologists, neuroanatomists, and computational neuroscientists—all of whom attended the Francis Crick Memorial Conference on Consciousness in Human and Non-Human Animals. The declaration was signed in the presence of Stephen Hawking, and included such signatories as Christof Koch, David Edelman, Edward Boyden, Philip Low and Irene Pepperberg.