Food on the LOC is described in chapter Ready to Boogie in the book, Jasper Wells – Awakening the Warrior. Though they make a pretty good pizza, here's the public versions from these various mainstream reports.
3D Printers for Food: Interesting Technology and Applications
Appeared in TurboFuture, Updated on March 13, 2020
By Linda Crampton
The 3D printer is an exciting device that creates three dimensional objects. The printer builds an object by depositing a printing medium in layers. Instead of using ink as a medium, many consumer level 3D printers use melted plastic that solidifies almost immediately after it's released from the printing nozzle. Other printing media are available, however, including a relatively new one—powdered or liquid food material. Sugar, liquid chocolate, and puréed food have all been used to create new food items with interesting and complex shapes and designs. In some cases, using a 3D printer to produce an item made of food is easier than producing the item by hand.
3D food printers may have additional benefits in the near future. NASA has partnered with a Texas company to create a more capable type of printer. The printer will be able to combine powdered material with a liquid to make a wide variety of foods. NASA's goal is to increase the nutrition, stability, and safety of food given to astronauts while they're in space. This will be especially important during deep space missions. It's been suggested that the new printer might also be able to reduce world hunger. Another type of food printer has been used experimentally to produce meat.
How Does a 3D Printer Work?
The manufacture of an item by a 3D printer starts with the creation of an object, or model, in a 3D art or CAD (computer-aided design) program. Many free models are available on websites and can be downloaded. This enables people who don't want to create their own models to participate in the fun of 3D printing.
The computer code that produces the image of the 3D model must be saved as an STL file. The STL code must then be converted into G code—a "language" that the 3D printer understands. Free, open source programs that can generate G code from STL files are available. Some CAD programs can also create G code.
A computer sends the G code to the printer through a USB cable. In some cases a computer isn't needed, however. Some printers have a card reader that can read the G code from an SD card.
Plastic filament is the most common printing medium for hobbyists. The filament is fed into the extruder of a printer, which heats and melts the plastic. The liquid plastic is then released through a tiny opening in the extruder head to make the object. The plastic solidifies very rapidly after it's released from the extruder.
The G code controls the movement of the extruder head as the plastic is being released. It "tells" the printer to move the extruder in three axes as the object is being printed—left to right (X axis), front to back (Z axis) and up and down (Y axis). Since the plastic is laid down in layers, the printing process is often known as additive manufacturing.
Potential Advantages of Printing Food
A 3D food printer works in the same general way as a regular 3D printer. However, the printing medium is a food material instead of melted plastic. It might sound strange and even silly to use a printer to make foods in different shapes when some of these foods can be quickly and easily made by hand. This is especially true when we consider the restricted abilities of the current food printers and the long time needed to print some types of food. There are potential advantages to producing food in a printer, however. These advantages should become more important as printing technology improves and the speed of printing increases. Some possible benefits of food printers are described below.
Personalized, Precise, and Reproducible Nutrition Since 3D printers follow digital instructions as they print, they may one day be able to make food containing the correct percentage of nutrients required for a particular gender, life stage, lifestyle, or medical condition. The quantity of different vitamins and minerals and the amount of protein, carbohydrate, or omega-3 fatty acids could be controlled, for example.
Unusual and Nutritious Food Composition Some people who are interested in 3D printed food say that unusual plant or animal material could be ground up and added to the printing powder and cite this as an advantage of the food. For example, insects are rich in protein but aren't liked as food in many cultures. If they are ground into a powder and mixed with other ingredients they may be more acceptable. Some algae are also nutritious and could be added to the mix. Since nutritious powders could also be added to conventionally made foods, however, I don't see this as an advantage of 3D printing compared to regular food production.
Interesting Food Designs, Decorations, and Textures
Since the appearance of a 3D printed food depends on the model that was created to instruct the printer, a wide variety of shapes, textures, and decorations can be produced. Printed foods may resemble those of traditional foods, such as a pizza, or they may have an unusual or even unique appearance. Assuming the 3D models have already been created, foods with intricate designs or decorations may be created more easily by a printer than by hand.
Easy Food Preparation
3D printing may become an easier way to prepare processed foods than traditional methods. This remains to be seen, however. If "print cartridges" (ingredient containers) have to be frequently refilled, or if the ingredient containers and printer parts have to be frequently cleaned by hand, 3D food printing could be time consuming. If the ingredients need to be prepared before using them or if the food needs to be cooked after removing it from the printer, this will also detract from the printer's advantages.
The NASA 3D Printed Food Project
At the moment, the food available for astronauts isn't suitable for the multi-year, deep space missions that NASA hopes to carry out in the future. For example, the present food preservation system used in space vessels is inadequate for a trip to Mars.
Keeping food frozen or refrigerated in a spacecraft would use valuable resources. Therefore NASA currently provides astronauts with individually packaged and preserved meals that are shelf stable. Nutrients are destroyed in the preservation process, however. In addition, the meals aren't personalized for an astronaut's individual needs. Another problem with the present foods is that they don't provide enough variety and interest for a long voyage. During the space voyage, the dry nutrients would be mixed with flavoring agents and water or oil to create a printing medium. The printer would deposit the resulting paste on a heated bed, which would cook the food. The production of drinkable water and the preservation of the oil needed for the printing medium are two additional factors that need to be considered when planning a long space voyage.
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