In order to establish a research agenda for nutrition and food concerns associated with long-duration space travel, a conference was sponsored by the New Jersey-NASA Specialized Center of Research & Training (NJ-NSCORT), NASA, and the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management. Invited papers were presented and are published in this special issue. Following intensive panel discussions and workshops the participants developed recommendations for a research agenda. The recommendations are listed in this introductory article.