Maggie Coblentz Fermented Miso in Space to Ask What Makes Us Human

The Miso That Went to Space

I sent miso to the International Space Station not to feed astronauts, but to explore how culture and identity travel with us. While space food often treats humans like machines, my research at MIT’s Media Lab and fieldwork in Svalbard revealed that fermentation is a living relationship between people, environment, and microbes. I wanted to prove that food carries meaning beyond mere nutrition, even in orbit.

"For me, this is the output. You’re eating. This is the publication, in a way."