NASA Awards Grant for 3D Food Printer

Forget guns and human ears, the big news for 3D printing today revolves around NASA and American’s favorite delivery item, pizza.

NASA recently awarded a six month, $125,000 grant under its Small Business Innovation Research Program to Systems & Materials Research Corporationto create a 3D printer that can be used to print food for astronauts on long distance space missions.

Anjan Contractor, the mechanical engineer with a focus on 3D printing, won the grant with a simple chocolate printer but plans to construct a 3D printer that will print a pizza that lasts up to 30 years.

The way we are working on it is, all the carbs, proteins and macro and micro nutrients are in powder form. We take moisture out, and in that form it will last be 30 years, says Contractor in an interview with Quartz’s Christopher Mims.

Contractor focused on pizza because it is prepared in layers, much like your typical 3D printed object. The idea is that his 3D printer will print a layer of dough, then tomato base, then a protein layer which could consist of animal, milk or plant products.

To read more about Contractor’s plan, visit QZ.com.