Space food research is crucial for economic exploitation of the asteroid belt and long-term human space exploration. Currently, food for space travelers relies on Earth resupply missions, which are costly and energy-intensive. To become less reliant on Earth, researchers are exploring the possibility of producing food in space using materials from asteroids. By recycling plastic waste into food on Earth, and extrapolating to converting asteroidal material, researchers have shown that microbial communities can transform asteroid material into food. This approach could potentially sustain astronauts for years. Meteorites provide valuable information on asteroid composition, with carbonaceous chondrites being rich in organic compounds that could be used to produce food in space.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/how-we-can-mine-asteroids-for-space-food/9EF3C4FA6F32368D09994EB7910C7035