Food & space · News English
What can people eat in space?
NASA looks for new ways to make meals far from Earth.
Read the story, then try the activities.
Food for a long trip
What is the competition about? Are these ideas or meals already made on Mars?
1People in space need food every day. But a trip to Mars is very long. How can they have good meals far from Earth?
2NASA has a competition called Mars to Table. People send ideas for making food in space. On 24 September, NASA announced the winners. These are plans for the future. People are not eating these meals on Mars now.
3One winning idea includes growing plants and mushrooms. It also includes making fresh meals every day. Another idea keeps some food from Earth for times when it is needed.
4The goal is to give people different foods. A good plan also needs to save the crew time. Cooking is part of life in space too.
Original teaching summary. Language examples and model answers are practice, not news quotations.
Word help · Three useful words
Read the meanings and examples. Choose one word to use in your own sentence.
meal
food you eat at one time, like lunch
Lunch is my favourite meal.
grow
to become bigger; also, to help plants become bigger
We grow tomatoes.
fresh
recently made or picked
I like fresh bread.
Check your reading · Three questions
Choose one answer for every question, then check. You can change an answer and check again.
Useful English: food I like
Say I like for food you enjoy: I like rice. Say I do not like for food you do not enjoy: I do not like mushrooms.
You can also say I don’t like. It means the same as I do not like.
Try: I ___ like cold soup.
Answer: do not, if cold soup is not a food you enjoy.
These are practice examples, not news facts.
Name one food you like and one you do not like.
Model and help
Example: I like apples. I do not like onions.
Alone: say your own two sentences. With a teacher: ask: Do you like rice?
Speak: your space lunch
Imagine a lunch in space. Speak for 20–30 seconds. Use: For lunch, I want ___. I like ___. I do not like ___.
Model answer
Example: For lunch, I want rice and vegetables. I like carrots. I do not like mushrooms. I want an apple too.
This is an imaginary lunch, not a NASA meal plan.
Alone: change two foods and try again. With a teacher: ask: What do you want to drink?
Mastery check · Three questions
Choose one answer for every question, then check. You can change an answer and check again.
Sources and reporting date
NASA report: 24 September 2026, 14:01 UTC-04:00. Checked 25 September. These are design concepts. The older photograph shows radishes on the International Space Station, not food on Mars.
- NASA: winning designs for space food systems
24 September 2026. The winning concepts and announcement. - NASA: Mars to Table challenge
Background on the food-system challenge; also identifies the 2020 radish photograph.