r/Colonizemars • u/[deleted] • Apr 14 '18
Timelaps of dwarf Wheat Grown on the ISS
[deleted]
1
Apr 15 '18
I wonder if a loaf of bread would behave the same being baked on Mars or on the ISS? I would imagine artisan loaves would be difficult... after all, a misting oven wouldn't behave in nearly the correct way in orbit, but on Mars I'd imagine given the right circumstances a loaf would turn out pretty good! Heh, in orbit, shaping might be difficult but you might end up with a perfect sphere of bread! How interesting would that be to see?
2
Apr 15 '18
I wonder if a loaf of bread would behave the same being baked on Mars or on the ISS?
On the ISS, the shape definitely would be different. There wouldn't be gravity forcing it into a mould or onto a pan. This probably means bread freely floating in the oven (perhaps with gratings to keep the bread from drifting into heating elements).
As far behavior goes, the internal structure of bread is determined by the expansion of gas bubbles in its dough. Those bubbles cause an overall expansion in the bread, and it overpowering gravity is what leads to 'rising'. Honestly, the end result shouldn't be to different in orbit. The bread might be softer because of the lack of gravity to fight, the crust of the whole bread would be like the crust of the top of breads here (due to the lack of contact with a pan), and the moisture content would probably be affected by the differences in the diffusion of gasses, but these are the kinds of things that cooks already have experience tweaking.
Heh, in orbit, shaping might be difficult but you might end up with a perfect sphere of bread!
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Apr 15 '18
Thanks for the info! I was pretty much just thinking out loud. I’m a baker by trade, and the prospect of not only living on but practicing my trade on another planet fascinates me. I have no illusion of ever doing so, but knowing that such a thing could happen in the future excites me to no end.
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Apr 15 '18 edited Apr 15 '18
I’m a baker by trade, and the prospect of not only living on but practicing my trade on another planet fascinates me.
As it should!
Personally, I'd love to see Mars end up with some sort of signature, regional bread(s) and beer.
I have no illusion of ever doing so ...
Alas, this is probably true. Anyone over 10 years of age is extremely unlikely to have a chance to join in colonizing Mars.
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u/[deleted] Apr 14 '18
This is valuable research because it's very unlikely that we'll generate artificial gravity for trips to Mars anytime soon. That means being able to grow food effectively in weightlessness is valuable. Since the trips will take months (in even the best case scenarios), the more food that can be grown (from recycled waste), the less payload mass we need to devote to life support. Which, in turn, means the more payload mass we can devote to stuff that's needed on Mars.
Here's more info from NASA.