Astronauts may one day be able to blend food in space if ISU engineering students are successful in building a $1,500 space blender.

David Chipman, senior in biology, and three engineering students, Jonathan Gettler, Clayton Neumann, and Kevin Schroeder — also known as Team CyMix — are building a blender that can be used to process food in space.

Chipman became interested in the project when he attended a food systems for space seminar given by Cheryll Reitmeier, professor of food science and human nutrition. The seminar focused on eating and preparing food in space.

Chipman said he took the seminar because he’s always been interested in space exploration and became interested in the food aspect of space after taking the semester-long seminar.

He said he decided to build the space blender after reading about NASA’s Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities, which allows teams from around the United States to propose, design, fabricate, fly and evaluate a reduced gravity experiment.

Chipman said he wanted to participate in the project because it would combine all of his engineering interests.

The team submitted a proposal and was accepted, along with 68 other teams.

Their blender will be tested on the Boeing KC-135A — also known as the “Vomit Comet” — in July.

Normal blenders use gravity to pull food into the blades, but this blender doesn’t need gravity because it doesn’t have blades. Instead, the blender uses a roller that moves back and forth, somewhat like a rolling pin, to crush the food. The blender is expected to be about the size of two side—by-side microwaves enclosed in a frame about the size of a desk, Chipman said.

He said this blender will be useful for long-term space trips for astronauts who are not allowed to bring packaged food and, instead, need to grow their own food. The blender would allow them to process the food they grow and have a wider variety of the food to eat while in space.

Chipman said the idea of using a roller came from trying to find an alternative to using blades. The group was trying to think of other ways to crush food and thought of using a rolling pin.

After doing experiments with soybeans, they decided using a roller would be the most efficient method for the blender.

Reitmeier, the group’s adviser, said the project could help NASA focus more on food for astronauts.

“This is a great project and a great group of enthusiastic guys,” she said.

Although the team hasn’t started building the blender yet, the team is finalizing the design of the blender, ordering parts and obtaining more funding, Chipman said.

Before traveling to Houston for the blender test, Team CyMix will have eight weeks to complete the final draft of the blender, with all of the design specifications and the safety requirements set in place. They will also have to pass flight physicals, he said.

For the first part of the trip, Chipman, Gettler, Neumann and Schroeder will be training for their flights and learning what it’s like to be in space. Also during that time, NASA workers will perform safety checks on their project. The last two days of the trip will be flight trial days. Each team member will get a chance to spend time in the aircraft, testing the blender. After the trials, the team members will analyze the results and write a final report to NASA.

The group will leave for Houston on July 9 and spend nine days there.

“We can’t wait. This is an experience you can’t get anywhere else,” Chipman said.