A patent (# US6938574) issued by the US Patent Office points to a novel way of securing an adequate food supply for future space travellers. In full the patent is for "Rearing fly larvae and animals in space for waste recycling and food supplying"
The patent application's abstract reads:
In space, wastes from humans, animals, and crops can be fully recycled by rearing maggots which will be nourishing feedstuff for feeding animals. These animals and their eggs combined with crop plants will be varied food for humans in space. Water and nutrition left in the residues remaining after rearing the maggots can be recycled and used to fertilize crop plants. Rearing maggots, animals, and crop plants provides a self-sufficient food regenerative system that enables humans to live and work in space on long term missions independent of food from earth.
And by recycling urine into drinking water, future space gourmands are all set. How do you say Bon appetit! in Martian?
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