Product 09 of 14
Encapsulated vitamins designed to hold potency through 5 years of storage.
Vitamins are fragile. Light, heat, oxygen and moisture degrade them, and the food-based vitamin content of space rations falls through storage. Mars plans need food that lasts 5 years, which current room-temperature space food does not reach.
The Stabilised Vitamin System encapsulates vitamins A, B1, folate, C and E so that they hold potency through five years of storage. Encapsulation shields each vitamin from the factors that break it down and releases it when consumed.
It is in development. The key work is accelerated ageing studies that predict five-year potency and the choice of capsule materials that are safe, stable and palatable.
The problem
Mars plans need food that lasts 5 years, which current room-temperature space food does not reach.
Source: published spaceflight studies and NASA planning figures; refers to work by other groups.
Months of usable shelf life. Missions to Mars last years, with no resupply and no quick return home.
The science
Why this approach.
Vitamins are chemically delicate. Vitamin C oxidises, folate and vitamin A are sensitive to light and heat, and thiamine (B1) breaks down with moisture. Over years of storage even sealed foods lose vitamin content, and Mars plans need food that lasts 5 years, which current room-temperature space food does not reach.
Encapsulation wraps each vitamin in a protective matrix that limits its exposure to oxygen, light and water. The programme focuses on five vitamins: A, B1, folate, C and E. The goal is a dry format whose potency holds through a five-year storage target, proven first by accelerated ageing studies and radiation exposure and later by real-time and flight data.
In use
Across the length of a mission.
How this product is intended to fit into a crew's routine, from loading to return.
Capsules or powders stored in barrier packaging with the food supply.
Daily use to top up vitamin intake as stored food degrades.
Used throughout the surface stay, when stored food is oldest.
Returned or stored samples measured for remaining potency.
Design
Four decisions that shape it.
Encapsulation
Protective matrices around each vitamin to block oxygen, light and moisture.
Five target vitamins
A, B1, folate, C and E, chosen for their degradation sensitivity and importance to crew health.
Accelerated ageing
Storage conditions that simulate five years in months to predict potency.
Simple format
A stable dry format suitable for daily use.
Risks
What could go wrong, and what we do about it.
| Risk | How we address it |
|---|---|
| Potency loss despite encapsulation | Accelerated ageing across temperature and humidity ranges, with potency assays. |
| Radiation effects | Exposure to simulated cosmic radiation before accepting the format. |
| Over-supplementation | Dose design with nutrition scientists; no claims of treatment. |
Test plan
Ground, analog, orbit.
A staged programme: ground first, then analog crews, then flight.
Ground testing
5-year accelerated storage with potency assays, plus radiation exposure.
Isolated-crew studies
Acceptability and intake studies.
Flight testing
Passive potency payload on a station.
Partnerships
Nutrition scientists at agencies and institutes.
Questions
FAQ.
Why not just pack more vitamins?
Because potency falls with time and mass is expensive; protecting them is more efficient.
How do you know 5 years?
Through accelerated ageing studies and, later, real-time and flight data.
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ConceptRead moreAll products on this site are under research and development. They are not approved or cleared by any regulator and are not available for sale. Nothing here is medical advice, and no product is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Descriptions of research refer to published studies by other groups and do not claim that our products have been proven in space. Stabilised Vitamin System is a product under research and development and is not available for sale.
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