On April 27, Beijing time, according to foreign media reports, at present, space business giants Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk want to develop Martian resources. NASA is planning to send humans to land on dusty Mars, but if humans really want to establish a survival base on the moon or other planets, what do they eat? In fact, a large number of experiments have been carried out to observe whether plants can thrive in the space environment. Recently, scientists conducted a new test to observe the growth of animal meat cells in the space environment, which is a small step to test the potential source of nutrition, but it is a big step for the future space travel life and is very important for their space survival. At the same time, it is also the experimental task that scientists expect to achieve. The experiment on the growth of animal meat cells in space was designed by Aleph farms, which plans to use animal meat cells to grow edible meat. The experiment is being carried out by the first all private astronaut team arriving at the international space station. But skeptics say the method of obtaining food is too unstable for astronauts to rely on to grow meat, and it will never be easier to grow meat in space than from earth. How to "make meat" Even on earth, cultivating meat from cells - especially large-scale production - is not a simple thing. Alev cultivation company is one of the companies trying to cultivate "artificial meat", but unlike other companies, it is the first commercial company trying to manufacture space meat. Although the company does not like to use the term "laboratory artificial meat", in fact, the process of cultivating meat is completely different from traditional farms. The staff of alev cultivation company will supply bovine cells (any animal cells can be used) with nutrients needed for their growth, such as amino acids and carbohydrates. These cells will continue to reproduce until they form muscle tissue and eventually become human edible meat. This process is called "culture" or "proliferation". The meat grows in cans and looks more like breweries' brewing cans than livestock farms, but the life cycle of eating livestock - birth, growth and Slaughter - is completely ignored. Some experts say the process has potentially positive effects on the environment, such as a significant reduction in methane emissions. Why breed meat in space? Scientists don't know whether this can be replicated in a zero gravity environment. Based on previous scientific research, we know that physiological and ecological principles will change in the space environment... So we don't know (and so far no one knows) whether artificial meat can be cultivated in space. Therefore, on April 8, when the four astronauts took the SpaceX rocket into space to the international space station, they carried out this special experiment. They brought a shoebox sized container containing animal cells and various nutrients needed for cultivation. Is it worth it? Even if the experiment is successful and proves that meat can grow in space, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. There is a reason why artificial meat is not sold in supermarkets. In fact, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in the field of artificial meat in recent years, but it is difficult to produce this kind of food on a large scale. At present, alev cultivation company is still waiting for the approval of the Israeli food regulatory authority before it can be supplied in restaurants. This artificial meat is not mass produced on earth, let alone in space. However, there are other more practical problems in cultivating meat in space. The first is the problem of non breeding. Animal cells grow slowly. If bacteria or fungi are put into Petri dishes, they will grow faster than animal cells, but eventually bacteria will completely replace animal cells. The essence of this is to cultivate bacteria, which can not be eaten by humans. Alev breeding said they believe the problem of non breeding will be finally solved, especially in areas where relatively small amounts of meat food need to be produced, but the pollution is disastrous for the Martian human base, which is equivalent to the failure of space crops. At the same time, the company also said that the cost of transporting food into space is very high. However, since 2008, NASA has estimated that the cost of transporting a 0.45 kg (1 pound) load to earth orbit is $10000. Alev breeding said the cost of bringing 0.45 kg of food to Mars was several times higher. But chemical engineer Humbert disagrees with this potential benefit. Meat cells grow based on edible substances, including sugar, amino acids and water, and the caloric value of meat cells is always lower than that of edible substances. In the best case, the human body may obtain 25% of the calories in food, so there is a question: why do we carry 100% of the calories and finally only consume 25% of the calories by supplying nutrients to meat cells for growth? But there are other considerations in long-term space mission planning, such as the mental health of astronauts. Karen Nyberg, a former American astronaut, spent five and a half months on the international space station. She said that food plays a vital role in the mental health of space astronauts. Usually, food is placed in white bags to avoid dehydration or moisture, such as milk powder. But I prefer fresh food in space. I miss the taste of garlic and olive oil very much, but we don't have these foods, So I think any food that can be brought into space is very good. For Karen, fresh food and vegetables are crucial if she leaves the earth for a long time. Of course, if humans really want to send humans to Mars, how to provide astronauts with nutritious, stable and delicious food is an important and difficult problem. There is evidence that cultivating meat in space is the same thing as on earth. Artificial meat in space is reliable enough or can replace food brought from earth in the future. Although alev cultivation company is ambitious, it is more urgent and important for the company to show the world that artificial meat can be produced on a large scale on earth. (Xinhua News Agency)