This is straight out of The Heechee Saga! The idea of synthesizing human-edible food from asteroid hydrocarbons is literally what Pohl described with CHON food. Breaking down carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen to create sustenance for ships, stations, even whole planets.

Judging by the study’s data, converting the organic compounds in an asteroid like Bennu could feed thousands of astronauts for decades. Even the lower estimate of 600 astronaut life-years is staggering when you consider how much food we’d otherwise have to launch from Earth (even with SpaceX’s cost reductions, Elon). If we can refine these processes to work efficiently and reliably, which is a very big if, we’re looking at a future where asteroid mining could fuel spaceships AND feed the crew without being tethered to Earth