On Dec. 30, 2005, The NASA Food Technology Commercial Space Center (FTCSC) at Iowa State University closed with several successes in its six years of work. The closing resulted from NASA’s budget restructuring to fund a new exploration initiative and the formation of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate.

The FTCSC was founded in 2002 with Soy Creations, a division of Triple F, which developed a soy chili that was approved on the NASA menu. The NASA FTCSC at Iowa State was founded in 1999 through a five-year grant of $2.8 million. NASA extended the grant funding in 2004 for an additional year.

The center was developed to lead a national effort in developing foods and food-processing technologies that enhance space missions and advance commercial food products.  The FTCSC worked with 30 commercial partners, which were recognized for their contributions to space food and space food technology.