Nutritional Support

Abstract

Adequate nutritional status is critical for maintenance of crew health during extended- duration space flight and postflight rehabilitation. Nutrition issues relate to intake of required nutrients, physiological adaptation to weightlessness, psychological adaptation to extreme environments, and countermeasures to ameliorate the negative effects of space flight. Thus, defining the nutrient requirements for space flight and ensuring provision and intake of those nutrients are critical issues for crew health and mission success. Specialized nutritional requirements have only been considered for what are referred to here as extended- duration flights, i.e., those greater than 30 days in length. While adequate nutrition is important on the 1- to 3-week Shuttle flights, intakes of specific nutrients above or below space specific requirements for this period will not produce cause for concern. Thus, Shuttle flights have always used the recognized nutritional requirements for adult men and women. In this chapter, long-duration flights will be further differentiated into orbital missions (e.g., International Space Station) and interplanetary exploration missions.