What kind of food do astronauts eat?

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In summary, an astronaut eats launch meat, which is made spicier because the sense of taste is diminished in space. Liquids are sipped out of pouches to avoid clogging air vents, and small grainy food is not allowed because it could clog equipment. Condiments are provided, including ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise. Salt and pepper are available in liquid form, and alcohol is not allowed.
  • #1
wavingerwin
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I was wondering because they can't possibly bring 'normal' food for weeks/months of trip which need heaps of storage... or can they?
 
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  • #2
Food in tubes, MRE types, freeze dried items... then there are some that are essentially TV dinner types, but under vacuum. Water is the far larger issue AFAIK

...Not too many beans or cruciform veggies though... bad gas. :smile:
 
  • #3
nismaratwork said:
Not too many beans or cruciform veggies though... bad gas. :smile:

Nonsense. That dry odorless recirculated air gets boring you know. You got to spice it up a notch. BAM!

But don't bring chips, especially ruffled ones. They'll CLOG THE INSTRUMENTS!
[PLAIN]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0a/Deep_Space_Homer.png [Broken]

Here's what they eat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_food. Sure looks better than what we get from United Airlines. :grumpy:
 
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  • #4
  • #5
I saw astronauts eat MnMs in space before. Is there no gravity in the spaceship at all times? Does that mean they keep floating around?
 
  • #6
Math Is Hard said:
I want to see them manage that cheese spread.

Never trust the ones with a cute avatar... :bugeye:


@caffenta: HA! Good one(s)
 
  • #7
joej24 said:
I saw astronauts eat MnMs in space before. Is there no gravity in the spaceship at all times? Does that mean they keep floating around?

They're in free fall, so it's effectively 0 g... so yep, they keep floating. It's apparently quite a lot of fun by all accounts (eating the MnMs that is), and you can do similar tricks with liquids... although there's a clear risk there.

I'd guess potato chips are disdained... imagine chip-fragments in freefall!

edit: It has to be better than THIS!

800px-Borsch-tube.jpg


edit: That's tubed Borscht.
 
  • #8
v_bachtiar said:
What kind of food do astronauts eat?
This and that, you know? Big bangers and mash, if they're Brits. Else something like black holey ravioli with space aged cheddar. Dessert is usually globular custard or supermassive blackforest cake. And lots and lots of cosmic microwave snacks in between meals.
 
  • #9
Gokul43201 said:
This and that, you know? Big bangers and mash, if they're Brits. Else something like black holey ravioli with space aged cheddar. Dessert is usually globular custard or supermassive blackforest cake. And lots and lots of cosmic microwave snacks in between meals.

:rofl:

I'll pass the on the supermassive schwarzwald cake... I might exceed my 'limit' and collapse.
 
  • #10
v_bachtiar said:
I was wondering because they can't possibly bring 'normal' food for weeks/months of trip which need heaps of storage... or can they?

They eat launch meat. I was told "The food was good, but the place lacked atmosphere".
 
  • #11
hypatia said:
They eat launch meat. I was told "The food was good, but the place lacked atmosphere".

Ohhhh... Lame... Jokes... Thread... *death rattle*


:wink:
 
  • #12
hypatia said:
They eat launch meat. I was told "The food was good, but the place lacked atmosphere".
:rofl:

I watched a show on developing food for the astronauts. Apparently the sense of taste is diminished in space, so the food is made extra spicy. Liquids getting loose can be disastrous, so all liquids are sipped out of pouches, same reason small grainy food is not allowed. The Americans are not allowed to take alcohol, so they are happy to share the Russian's vodka rations.
 
  • #13
I thought astronauts had to be fit. The foods seems horrible (no offense) health wise as well as for taste.
 
  • #14
Evo said:
:rofl:

I watched a show on developing food for the astronauts. Apparently the sense of taste is diminished in space, so the food is made extra spicy. Liquids getting loose can be disastrous, so all liquids are sipped out of pouches, same reason small grainy food is not allowed. The Americans are not allowed to take alcohol, so they are happy to share the Russian's vodka rations.
I think the small grainy food means powdery food. One would not want powder floating around.

Condiments are provided such as ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise. Salt and pepper are available but only in a liquid form. This is because astronauts can't sprinkle salt and pepper on their food in space. The salt and pepper would simply float away. There is a danger they could clog air vents, contaminate equipment or get stuck in an astronaut's eyes, mouth or nose.

. . . .
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/living/spacefood/index.html
 
  • #15
Despite its "threat" to the astronaut, spicy foods are popular in space because most of the food is dried in one form or another and zero gravity does nothing good for sinuses or flavor. And this article notes "NASA's food laboratory carefully balances diets between six categories: beverage, rehydratable, intermediate moisture, thermostabilized, irradiated, and natural form."Yum. Astronaut Don Pettit brought along small cans of green chilies on one Space shuttle trip. On a previous mission, taco sauce had become carefully guarded currency.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/16026

[Former astronaut Sid] Gutierrez, who said he knew he wanted to be an astronaut since grade school, spoke Monday in the Administration Building Auditorium to kick off the Laboratory's celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month.
...
Gutierrez also drew chuckles when he said space travel affects a person's taste buds. He said shuttle crews always take spicy accouterments like taco sauce to make food taste better. The taco sauce, he said, also could be used for barter. "If it was your turn to say, clean the latrine, you could trade for two packets of taco sauce," he said.

http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/pa/News/091697.html
 
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  • #16
mugaliens said:
One lives down the street from my parents. He agrees with me. What in the world are you up to, Evo?

I don't know what you are up to, Mug.

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F_A_Matter_of_Taste_prt.htm

Space has always been full of mysteries. People have researched space. People have explored space. Many questions have been answered. We learn more about space with every trip we take. There are still a lot of questions to answer. One question is: why doesn't food taste the same in space?

People who live in space have said that food is not the same in space. Some astronauts say it tastes bland when they are in orbit. Some do not like their favorite foods. Some love to eat foods they would never eat on Earth. Some crew members say they can't tell any difference. Why? NASA has some clues. But, no one is completely sure.


Edit -- beaten to the punch by Gokul...
 
  • #17
When It Comes to Living in Space, It's a Matter of Taste
NASA has come a long way from Tang and toothpaste-like chow, but even with more Earthlike vittles, spicy food seems to be a favorite of taste bud-challenged space station crews

Since the early days of manned spaceflight, astronauts have reported that eats taste different in microgravity. Many said that flavors are dulled and they crave fare that is spicier and considerably more tart than they would prefer on Earth. It's not uncommon for space travelers to enjoy cuisine in space that they couldn't stand at home, and vice versa.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=taste-changes-in-space
 
  • #18
Anecdotal reports from the crew have suggested that the sense of taste changes in microgravity. Since approximately 85% of what you taste is what you smell, it is not clear whether this phenomenon is due to fluid shift in the body, vehicle air currents where hot air does not rise, or that the food is not piping hot in temperature. The observed effect could also be related to the fact that the crew is far from home and the result may be the need for “comfort foods”.
from CHANGES IN SPACE FOOD OVER THE LAST 45 YEARS

http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20060049069_2006250584.pdf
 
  • #19
Is the lack of smell more distinct in micro-gravity than it is in an airplane at altitutde? The latter also compensates by over-spicing by ground standards... maybe it's just a function of living in a pressure vessel...
 
  • #20
They eat at Planet Hollywood. The menu includes astro surf and turf, venus clams, and Capricorn. They wash it down with a vodka sunrise. Also, they eat lots of candy, Mars Bars, Milky Way bars, Moon Pies. Also Tang.
 
  • #21
Jimmy Snyder said:
They eat at Planet Hollywood. The menu includes astro surf and turf, venus clams, and Capricorn. They wash it down with a vodka sunrise. Also, they eat lots of candy, Mars Bars, Milky Way bars, Moon Pies. Also Tang.

:rofl:

You're going to the 'bad place' for that, and I am too for laughing.

Venus Clams... that's out of the park man. :biggrin:
 
  • #22
mmmm Moon pies!
 
  • #23
What I find so amazing, is that the freeze-dried ice cream of many a science museaum gift-shop fame... is NOT eaten (at least, not now). Too powdery, and apparently not very popular withe 'naughts.

@Hypatia: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/southern-moon-pies/Detail.aspx

They are... oh... they're very good.
 
  • #24
nismaratwork said:
What I find so amazing, is that the freeze-dried ice cream of many a science museaum gift-shop fame... is NOT eaten (at least, not now). Too powdery, and apparently not very popular withe 'naughts.

@Hypatia: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/southern-moon-pies/Detail.aspx

They are... oh... they're very good.

Doesn't, however, keep the kids from wanting it from the gift shops (or, admittedly, even me, from my own fond gift shop memories).

Jimmy Snyder said:
Also Tang.

Mmm... Tang. More nostalgia there.
 
  • #25
nismaratwork said:
What I find so amazing, is that the freeze-dried ice cream of many a science museaum gift-shop fame... is NOT eaten (at least, not now). Too powdery, and apparently not very popular withe 'naughts.
I think that's one of those things that lost popularity with the space crowd and found use elsewhere. In this case, I believe it became pretty popular with troops stationed in tropical lands. More recently it's been popular among backpackers. You'll find freeze dried ice-cream in most any outdoor gear store. I like to take some along anytime I'm leading a trip with newbie backpackers. Freeze-dried ice cream + water + strawberries makes for a neat dessert after a long day of trudging through hills and woods.
 
  • #26
Gokul43201 said:
I think that's one of those things that lost popularity with the space crowd and found use elsewhere. In this case, I believe it became pretty popular with troops stationed in tropical lands. More recently it's been popular among backpackers. You'll find freeze dried ice-cream in most any outdoor gear store. I like to take some along anytime I'm leading a trip with newbie backpackers. Freeze-dried ice cream + water + strawberries makes for a neat dessert after a long day of trudging through hills and woods.

Oh don't get me wrong, as a kid I thought it was the coolest thing extant, and as you say now, it's a fantastic snack and even addition to trail mix. I hadn't thought to rehydrate it, but I'll have to give that a whirl.

@Physics girl phd: Nor should it, but Tang? Really?! I never could stand powdered drink mixes of any kind... yet I like slushies... clearly it's a matter of what we have as kids, and no virtue of taste. :rofl:
 
  • #27
Of course, the biggest problem in space is not food, but water. What good is all that freeze dried stuff if you can't reconstitute it. However, water adds too much weight to the payload. So they use powdered water. It's a two step process. First you reconstitute the water, then the ice cream. You don't want to know how they reconstitute the water though.
 
  • #28
Jimmy Snyder said:
Of course, the biggest problem in space is not food, but water. What good is all that freeze dried stuff if you can't reconstitute it. However, water adds too much weight to the payload. So they use powdered water. It's a two step process. First you reconstitute the water, then the ice cream. You don't want to know how they reconstitute the water though.

...Sorry, I was just 'taking the dog for a walk'... what were saying about water? :wink:
 
  • #29
Does anybody else remember those TV commercials for Tang, "the breakfast drink of astronauts?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWghCdIqedA
 
  • #30
jtbell said:
Does anybody else remember those TV commercials for Tang, "the breakfast drink of astronauts?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWghCdIqedA

You're not going to like the answer...

...yes... in shows about 'old commercials'. :redface:

Still, it almost makes me want to try Tang again, despite the fact I don't believe my tongue or olfactory bulb recovered by my first try.
 
  • #31
nismaratwork said:
@Physics girl phd: Nor should it, but Tang? Really?! I never could stand powdered drink mixes of any kind... yet I like slushies... clearly it's a matter of what we have as kids, and no virtue of taste. :rofl:

Truly haven't tasted the stuff in years, and I'm sure I'd dislike it... but I remember my sister drinking at least two glasses a day. Surely there's not a bit of goodness nutrition-wise in it, except perhaps vitamin C.
 

1. What types of food are available for astronauts to eat?

Astronauts have a variety of food options available to them, including freeze-dried meals, thermostabilized foods, and fresh produce. They also have access to snacks like nuts, granola bars, and candy.

2. How do astronauts prepare and eat their food in space?

Astronauts use special equipment to prepare and eat their food in space. They have a rehydration station to add water to their freeze-dried meals, and a food warmer to heat up thermostabilized foods. They also have utensils that are designed to be used in microgravity.

3. Do astronauts have any dietary restrictions in space?

Astronauts do not have any specific dietary restrictions in space, but they do have to follow a strict diet plan to ensure they are getting enough nutrients and calories. They also have to avoid foods that can cause crumbs or produce strong odors, as these can be hazardous in a confined space.

4. How do astronauts get fresh produce in space?

Astronauts have access to a small greenhouse on the International Space Station, where they can grow fresh produce like lettuce, radishes, and other vegetables. They also receive regular shipments of fresh fruits and vegetables from Earth.

5. Can astronauts eat food from their home country in space?

Yes, astronauts are allowed to bring some of their favorite foods from their home country to eat in space. However, these foods must meet the same safety and storage requirements as other space food and must be approved by NASA before being brought on a mission.

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