Mock Mission to Mars Lays Groundwork for Astronaut-friendly Cookbook [VIDEO]

When it comes to putting man on Mars, there's a lot to consider -- including what astronauts will eat for dinner. To get a sense of what may be the best ingredients to pack for such an extended mission, six scientists have spent the last four months in a simulated mission to Mars, emerging from the experiment on Tuesday with pages of notes.

"Ingredients that will be essential for future space missions on Mars or the moon will include spices, herbs and hot sauce," mission commander Angelo Vermeulen told Astrobiology Magazine's Leslie Mullen during the mission, Space.com reports. "But also comfort food such as Nutella, peanut butter and margarine."

Fiber, Vermeulen explained, is a big one, especially since many products that last for an extended period of time are highly processed and thus lack the nutrient. For this reason, he said, "We enjoy wheat bread, rye crackers, nuts, and dried fruits, for example."

And while such a venture may seem small on the scale of scientific challenges facing a manned mission to Mars, as the University of Hawaii and Cornell University team behind the mission explained, there's more to it than what meets the eye.

Among the topics closely examined were how "mission conditions" such as confinement and isolation affected participants' affinity for different foods and to investigate the possibility of any changes in "food intake, food liking and mood" under these conditions, according to the project's site.

This didn't keep the team from having fun with the experiment, though, which included a recipe contest for categories ranging from breakfast to soups and stews. A common theme throughout? Spam.

All of this was carried out in a space habitat located on the northern slope of Hawaii's Mauna Loa whose barren lava field the researchers felt represented as Mars-like environment a person can find on the blue planet. Still, participants didn't leave the space habitat without a simulated space suit on and were busy fulfilling a number of research projects designed to reflect what astronauts on Mars might be engaged in.

Currently, NASA is working to accomplished a manned mission to Mars by the 2030s.