Can food be perserved forever out in outerspace?

Answer 1

Yes as it would be in a great vacuum. If you package it correctly you could also keep it from getting space dust on it so you could eat it later.

Answer 2

Long shelf life food supply information.. Typically this is food that is dehydrated or freeze dried (similar to the pouch products), packaged in double-enamelled #10 or #2-1/2 cans, nitrogen flushed, and has an expected shelf life of 10 to 15 years (or more).The MREs are packaged in a specially designed triple-layer foil/plastic "retort" pouches that are sealed, cooked and not exposed to air until opened. MREs typically have a five to seven year shelf life if stored in a cool environment.
Food in outer space would not be subject to some of our conditions here on earth. This may slow the spoiling process or increase it. Microgravity conditions of outer space is described as comprimising for food storage. Recent set-backs aside, NASA is still making plans for the first manned mission to Mars. The journey will be so long and arduous that even the seemingly simple matter of how to feed the crew has to be radically re-thought. When missions get long enough, it's more economical to send a farm and grow the food there than to just send the food and throw away the waste." Figure it cost about $10,000. to send up a pund of food which could be very costly if the grew is expected to live for two years.
Hope this helps. See more information here> http://www.childrensmuseum.org/cosmicquest/spacestation/index2.html

Answer 3

Actually, it seems that radiation would eventually break down the food on the atomic level, but it would probably take a very long time (unless the food was also being pelted by micrometeoroids). Usually food spoils because of bacteria which breaks down the food into waste, and bacteria cannot metabolize food in a vacuum (if by "space" you mean outside the space ship).

(At this point some people will tell me that some Earth organisms survived on a camera aboard a Surveyor probe that had been sitting on the Moon's surface for years before the camera was brought back to Earth by Apollo astronauts (someone sneezed into the camera on the assembly line), but these organisms were hibernating, not consuming food.).

Answer 4

Hmm well that all depends on the kind of food now doesn't it.

Lets say for instant it is a cheese sandwich.
sounds good to me.
you?

Well it would fall apart and get very messy.
Aswell as it containing bacteria already.
Which does need oxygen also.
So if it was in outer space in a oxygenated tub.
Then it would indeed rot in theory.

But then again as we are on earth are we also not technically in outerspace also.
And food still rots here.

I guess outerspace is like one huge tuppaware tub.
When you think about it.


Kelly XO.

Answer 5

Preservation of foods is the attempt to avoid its decay or decomposition by two things: Chemical decomposition and organic decay. (Yes, you can technically think of them both as chemical decomp, but that clutters the argument.) So you would need to avoid both of these situations.

Organic decay is caused by microorganisms within the foodstuff, and thus you will need to fully sterilize it. This isn't too difficult to do, depending on the food, and is done often here on Earth. The environment in space lends itself very well to keeping the food free of contaminant organisms.

Chemical decomposition occurs when chemicals within the food itself react with one another over time. There are some things that can be done about this, such as dehydration which removes one very common catalyst for reactions (water), or the removal of oxygen in lieu of a more inert gas. Some foods are actually immersed within a different medium (e.g. oils), or kept at a very low temperature, to further delay any chemical reactions. These reactions are often too numerous and complex to be halted altogether, but they can be delayed by a great amount using a combination of these methods.

Thus we can have some foodstuffs whose shelf life may be measured in decades, such as many canned goods. The fact that these goods are located in space as opposed to here on Earth shouldn't make too much of a difference, since they are typically hermetically sealed. The temperature difference in space may help quite a bit, though, since maintaining a habital environment requires energy, and so you would simply store the food in some location where you did not expend this extra energy.

Answer 6

No, for two reasons that comes to mind. Even in space it is impossible to isolate matter completely from interacting with radiation, other particles and subatomic particles. Eventually, compounds 'deteriorates' into elements and even elements will deteriorate, even if it was possible to isolate them completely.

Answer 7

I think it would fall apart, do to a difference in pressure, that and ou would have to keep it away from foriegn bodies.