NASA is funding a food 3D printer project

In fact, we are talking about the very food synthesizer that has been described in many science fiction works. Of course, our science and technical capabilities have not yet “grown up” to an atomic product synthesizer, but as a substitute you can offer the creation of a 3D printer that can “print” all kinds of dishes. NASA decided to allocate 125 thousand dollars for the development of such a printer.

An artist has already been selected, he became an engineer from Austin, Anjan Contrator (he works at Systems and Materials Research Corporation). Previously, the same specialist created a 3D printer to create chocolate products. The main hardware was the RepRap printer.

The first goal of the project is to create a 3D printer capable of printing pizza. Yes, so far no cutlets, barbecue and other things. Only pizza, because the test project. By design, the printer will use ingredients stored in powder form in special cartridges. When "printing" different products, these ingredients will be mixed in various proportions, and as a result, the space traveler will be able to enjoy the same pizza, or, for example, cake.



Ingredients can be stored in cartridges for up to 30 years. Of course, the ingredients for creating different dishes can be prepared from algae and insects in order to reduce the cost of production of the main components for cosmo-cuisine.

According to the developer, food printing can help not only astronauts, but also ordinary people from not very wealthy regions. However, it is too early to talk about “feeding the whole planet” thanks to 3D printing, because the project itself is still in its infancy.

Via time