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This proof of concept shows the front plate of an oven that can bake bread in microgravity.

A team of engineers and scientists may have just found a way for astronauts to enjoy fresh bread in space.

Currently, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) rely on tortillas as their "bread" because they have a long "shelf life" and don't produce crumbs. But now, a team of engineers and scientists in Germany is developing an oven that works in microgravity, as well as space-grade dough that's suitable for baking bread in orbit, so that astronauts may one day be able to bake and enjoy fresh bread on the job.

Germany-based startup Bake In Space also plans to develop a made-in-space sourdough brand based on yeast cultivated at the International Space Station.

According to Sebastian Marcu, founder and CEO of Bake In Space, the idea came from his friend, spacecraft engineer Neil Jaschinski, who had been struggling to find a better solution to what he says was poor-quality bread in the Netherlands, where he works.

"Bread is a big topic in Germany," Marcu told Space.com. "We have 3,200 variations of bread, with a bakery pretty much on every street corner. In the Netherlands, most Germans would complain about the quality of bread." [Space FoodEvolution: How Astronaut Chow Has Changed (Photos)]

Spacecraft engineer Neil Jaschinski poses with Bake In Space's prototype microgravity oven.

Jaschinski have overcome the lack of good bread by learning to bake his own at home. However, he and Marcu realized that their fellow German, ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst who is slated to command the ISS in the second half of 2018 would have no choice but to survive his six months in space on NASA-approved tortillas.

"I have heard from several former German astronauts that they really missed bread" while in space, Marcu said. "Everything on the space station has to have [a] long shelf-life. And fresh produce, freshly baked products that's something they really miss."

Former German astronaut Gerhard Thiele has joined the project as well.

'We need to take care of the human beings that we are sending [to space], of their wellbeing, and food, as well as the environment, is an essential part of this," commented Thiele, who spent 11 days in space in 2000 aboard Space Shuttle mission STS-99

To have something fresh, whether it is bread or whether it is vegetables, it would be wonderful.

Bread has been a staple in human diet for thousands of years but replicating the art of bread making in orbital conditions presents multiple challenges. Microgravity, Marcu said, is only one of them.

"We have to comply with a whole set of safety regulations that we have on the space station," Marcu said. "We have to make sure that none of the surfaces [of the oven] becomes hotter than 45 degrees Celsius [113 degrees Fahrenheit]. This means that we cannot preheat the oven; we cannot open the oven in the middle of operation."

On Earth, bread needs to be baked at a temperature of about 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Once its done, the bakers remove it from the heated oven. But that would not be possible in space. Processes such as thermal convection, which helps to mix up air on Earth, don't work in space. If a bubble of air that hot were to escape from the oven in orbit, it could stay floating inside the station for quite a while, posing a serious health risk to the astronauts,Marcu said.

Marcu said the team has found a way to overcome this challenge.

"We basically put the baking product, the dough, inside the cold oven and start heating it up," he said. "Once it's almost done, we start cooling it down. But at that time, any product will start to get dry, and that's why we need to design the oven so that some water is added during the baking process."

The oven also needs to be able to operate with only 270 watts of power about one-tenth the power used by conventional ovens on Earth. Marcu said the team hopes to have a prototype ready by the end of this year. [The International Space Station:Inside and Out(Infographic)]

Mastering the process of baking is only one step toward making the space-grade bread. Crumbs could damage the station's equipment, or astronauts could accidently inhale them. Marcu said he hopes the combination of the new baking process and a carefully designed dough will solve the problem.

There are further challenges when it comes to the dough, Marcu added. While the ultimate goal is to make bread in space from scratch, he said, the engineers will launch a premade bread product to the space station as a first step. But as with all space food, this bread product will have to have an extremely long shelf life and survive without a fridge or a freezer.

"At the moment, we are testing out different dough recipes, doing longevity storage tests, keeping them at ambient temperature and making sure that nothing grows inside that is not wanted that could contaminate the space station," Marcu said.

Separately, Bake In Space will send a yeast culture to the space station that the astronauts will use to create sourdough, which will be delivered back to Earth to establish a line of made-in-space bread.

Sourdough is a traditional type of bread dough that people used before the industrialization of bread making. It uses naturally occurring yeast and bacteria that ferment the dough and provide it with its typical mildly sour taste.

"Sourdough basically takes up the bacteria from its near vicinity and the person that has his hands in the bread, and that's how the special taste of the bread is developed," Marcu said. [Can You KeepKosheror Halal inSpace?]

"Wherever you are on Earth, sourdough has a unique taste, whether it's created in San Francisco or India," he added. "It will be interesting to see what the flavor will be when we cultivate it in space."

Marcu said the made-in-space bread could be one small way to improve the quality of life in space before space tourism and deep-space exploration fully take off. Although the diversity of space food has improved greatly, it can still be rather dull compared Earth-based fare.

"On Earth, bread has always been a symbol of quality of life," Marcu said. "Bread always stands for friendship and well-being, and that's what drives our project. If we want to go further into space, we need to create quality of life, and that's why bread is really a stepping stone for human exploration of space."

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Bread's Done! This Company Wants to Help Astronauts Bake in Space - Space.com

Former astronaut Leroy Chiao's astronaut class took a photo in front of a T-38 jet after their selection in 1990.

Leroy Chiao is the CEO and co-founder of OneOrbit LLC, a motivational, training and education company. He served as a NASA astronaut from 1990-2005 and flew four missions into space aboard three space shuttles and once as the co-pilot of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. On that flight, he served as the commander of Expedition 10, a 6.5-month mission. Chiao has performed six spacewalks, in both U.S. and Russian spacesuits, and has logged 229 days in space. You can read more of Chiao's Expert Voices Op-Eds and film reviews on his Space.com landing page. Chiao contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Recently, NASA announced its newest class of astronauts: Twelve were chosen from a record-setting pool of over 18,000 applicants to form Group 22. As you would imagine, these 12 are quite accomplished and talented individuals, who are walking on air. It brought me back to my own selection as part of Group 13 back in 1990. What an exciting time!

I had wanted to be an astronaut from a young age. Growing up in the 1960s, I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by airplanes and rockets. I followed the early missions when I was old enough to understand space exploration, but it was the Apollo 11 moon landing that captured my imagination and started my dream of becoming an astronaut myself. I remember looking at the moon as an 8-year-old and marveling that there were two astronauts in a lander on the surface, getting ready to go out and actually walk. That settled it for me: I knew I was going to at least try to become an astronaut. I wanted to be like those guys. [Astronauts Record Awesome Welcome Video for NASA's 2017 Recruits]

Studying engineering was natural for me; I was always interested in technology and building things. As a university sophomore, I signed up for the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) intending to become a fighter pilot and, hopefully, an astronaut. Just a few months in, however, I discovered that my left eye had slipped a bit from 20/20. My military pilot plans were dashed. I had not yet reached the point of becoming a contract cadet, so I was able to leave AFROTC, but it was disappointing, to say the least. I did go on to be a pilot, and have been flying airplanes now for almost 33 years.

Just a year later, the Space Shuttle Columbia made its maiden flight. I watched the television intently as Columbia executed a perfect landing in the Mojave Desert. The space shuttle program re-opened the gates for me, since NASA had begun to select more civilian scientists and engineers as astronauts. I was back in the game!

After earning my university degrees and working for a few years, I wrote to NASA to request an application package. Seven months later, after I applied, I received a call inviting me to Houston to interview. That itself was thrilling; it meant that I was one of the 100 or so who would be interviewed, chosen from several thousand applicants. Several months afterward, I received that life-changing phone call, and reported for duty just six months later.

Most NASA astronaut class photos have been shot in the studio. These new astronaut candidates had their photo taken in front of a NASA T-38 jet, just as we did 27 years earlier. That's what first caught my eye when they were announced. Over the next two years, these 12 new astronaut candidates (ASCANS) will train together as a class. Yes, they really are called ASCANS, just like it's spelled, with a bit more than a hint of derision. That is how it's always been.

The 2017 NASA Astronaut Class: (from left) Zena Cardman, Jasmin Moghbeli, Jonny Kim, Frank Rubio, Matthew Dominick, Warren Hoburg, Robb Kulin, Kayla Barron, Bob Hines, Raji Chari, Loral O'Hara and Jessica Watkins.

As with any new group of highly skilled and motivated individuals from different backgrounds, strong friendships and rivalries will form among the new astronaut class. They will be expected to do things as pledges in this fraternity that they perhaps didn't anticipate. They will perform skits for the astronaut office holiday parties, plan the astronaut reunions and do more menial and grunt work than they might have imagined. It's all part of the process and experience, the rite of passage. [What It's Like to Become a NASA Astronaut: 10 Surprising Facts]

The ASCANS will learn about the International Space Station and its systems, participate in simulator sessions and train on robotics and spacewalks, called extravehicular activity (EVA). They will learn the Russian language, and work out in the astronaut gym. They will travel as a class to the NASA field centers and be trained in aircraft egress, as well as land and sea survival. They will fly T-38 jets civilians are trained to be co-pilots and go out on public affairs trips to talk to the public about NASA and space exploration.

After their initial training, the ASCANS will shed this somewhat ignoble title, graduate and receive their silver astronaut pins. It will be a great day for them. They will wear this pin exactly once, as they move one step closer to realizing the dream of wearing one made of gold.

Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates and become part of the discussion on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

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How Former Astronaut Leroy Chiao Turned His Dream of Space into a Reality - Space.com