Eating in space presented a new set of challenges for early explorers. Imagine trying to drink in an environment where your beverage didn’t stay in a cup, but instead floated around in perfectly round droplets! Imagine trying to eat a sandwich in zero gravity without letting crumbs float into the very expensive, delicate, vital equipment aboard your space craft. Many of the ways we eat and prepare food on Earth are not suitable for space so they had to invent new ways of doing things.
John Glenn was the first American to eat anything in the weightless environment of orbit. There was some worry about not being able to swallow properly in zero gravity, but it proved to not be a problem. John Glenn found eating easy enough, however, the food choices for early astronauts were very limited and unappetizing. Food for the Mercury astronauts came in bite-sized cubes, freeze dried powders and tubes that resembled toothpaste containers. The food was hard to rehydrate and the astronauts didn’t like having to squeeze their meals out of tubes or keep careful track of every crumb.
Later missions addressed many of the issues the first astronauts had with their food, and the quality of food in space has improved greatly over time. For the Gemini missions (1965-1966), a gelatin coating was added to the bite sized food to cut down on crumbs. Also, new packaging and re-hydration techniques made food easier to prepare and eat. The Apollo missions (1961-1975) where the first to have access to hot water which afforded them a wider, more appetizing array of meal choices. Apollo astronauts where also the first to enjoy the “spoon-bowl”, a new packaging system that allowed foods to be eaten with a spoon. Thermostabilized pouches called “wetpacks” meant that not all of their food had to be dehydrated. The Skylab (1973-1974) had enough room for a refrigerator and freezer, allowing them to bring along perishable and frozen foods. Skylab had an impressive array of 72 menu items. The Skylab was the first craft big enough for a dining space where astronauts could sit down with the aid of foot and thigh restraints. Trays were used for heating and serving the food, and magnets were used to keep trays and utensils from floating away.
By the time the space shuttle was starting to launch in the 1980’s, space food started resembling food found on Earth. These days we’ve all seen the instant food that comes in microwavable pouches at grocery stores. For a 2006 launch of the Discovery shuttle, famous chef, Emeril Lagasse, designed a gourmet menu for the astronauts. The main differences between how modern day astronauts eat and how we eat on Earth is the packaging. The astronauts eat three meals a day, plus snacks, that are carefully packaged and stored in the order they are going to be eaten. These meals are carefully designed by nutritionists to ensure that the astronauts get the right amounts of vitamins and nutrients. On the International Space Station (ISS), the astronauts rehydrate their food and drinks from a station that dispenses hot and cold water. They heat foods using a convection oven that remains between 160 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Astronauts sit down at a table and eat with forks, spoons and knives just like us on Earth. Individual containers get fastened to the tray and packages are opened with scissors. Condiments, such as salt and pepper, are provided in liquid form so they don’t float away.
All these advances in space food may not make that much of a difference to astronauts taste buds though. The low-gravity environment of orbit effects the human body in many ways that change how astronauts taste food. Air does not circulate the same way so food smells don’t reach the nose in time. Smell is a large part of tasting; without being able to smell it is hard to taste food. There is also a tendency for liquids in the body to rise, clogging nasal passages, also impeding the astronauts senses of smell and taste. Even if they can’t fully taste it, familiar food items help the crew feel more at home on their voyages, and a happy and healthy crew are very important!
