Referring to the space science industry, many people will probably immediately think of increasingly advanced space ships, new satellites or famous astronauts … but few people care about what people will eat. while in space? Surely we cannot bring fresh food up there for processing and cooking like on the ground.
Therefore, to ensure health and nutrition for astronauts, sometimes having to work outside Earth for years, is a difficult problem for scientists. But with constant development and efforts, notably NASA, the menu of astronauts is increasingly improved, helping them to live and work better when living outside Earth. Here are the actual discoveries about the types of food used in space, you may find them quite interesting.
Pizza brought to space, the crust becomes soggy or chewy.
When it comes to space, the delicious pizza is truly impossible to swallow. The delicious crispy crust is now soggy or chewy. Therefore, NASA has never brought this item to space. Only the Russian team on the Mir space station has tried this cake once and they also claim that they do not want to enjoy it a second time.
The type of dry ice cream brought to space is like a soft, crushed cotton candy.
Dry ice cream is sold in space museums across the United States as astronaut ice cream, so most people believe it. However, the Apollo 7 mission in 1968 was the first and last time this ice cream was put into space because in the opinion of the astronauts, it was like a soft, crumbled and soft cotton candy. The taste can’t be compared with real ice cream.
The food for the astronauts from the beginning looked really weird.
Yuri Gagarin was the first person to go into space and he was also the first person to eat and work there. What he eats is stored in a tube like toothpaste, his lunch consists of a mixture of liquid and chocolate sauce. When the first Americans went to space, they also ate food in small tubes, which came in both powder and liquid form (no one really liked to eat these foods), and they realized that the Eating these food reserves is not pleasant at all.
Conventional food has been used by astronauts today.
Finally, the age of eating tube food has also been overthrown, now, the menu for astronauts has been greatly improved, including more varieties to satisfy the needs of people to enjoy. After the Gemini project in 1965, the freeze-drying method was developed, luxuries such as shrimp, toast, chicken, fresh vegetables, pudding were provided. The astronauts even smuggled sandwiches on board to eat, although they were later reprimanded for letting the cake crumbs float inside. During the Appollo mission (68-75), hot water was brought up, and on the Skylab Space Station (73-74) there was also a refrigerator and a freezer, allowing for items to spoil quickly. Today, foods that are kept at room temperature are generally edible on spacecraft, such as pasta, fruit, and other common ground foods.
Tangs are used in space to neutralize unpleasant odors in the drinking water of ships.
Tang is a brand that is quite popular with everyone, not only for use on the ground, this brand is also supplied to astronauts on spacecraft. In fact, Tang was chosen completely at random, but the reason it was chosen for use in space is because the water on the spacecraft has a bad taste (due to a chemical reaction of the water with the support system). life support on board) and the addition of orange flavor makes the taste of the water much more pleasant.
A food that is quite suitable for the space environment is beef jerky with mobility, long preservation and especially very high nutritional content. A Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang even brought dried venison and dried reindeer meat to celebrate Christmas in space.
There are different types of food used in the universe.
They are: drinks, fresh foods (only for 2 days), irradiated meat (to prevent food from spoiling), natural foods (like nuts, cookies, etc.), concentrated foods All water is drained and the food is de-heated (all food is de-heated to remove harmful microorganisms and enzymes). It must also be added that these are very special ways of preservation to be suitable for long-term flights in space.
Food must be packaged according to a certain cycle.
Space food must be packaged according to a very strict process. In addition to the basic criteria, the packaging of these foods must be light, easy to decompose, and convenient to use (as well as having instructions for use, barcodes to be able to easily track the diets of restaurants). travel). The reason for these regulations is because space on the spacecraft is limited and moreover, each weight loaded on board consumes fuel. Therefore, the weight on board should be minimized as much as possible.
Food must be nutritious, easy to digest and delicious. In addition, the dishes must meet the characteristics of the weightless environment. So they need to be lightweight, well sealed, and be easily prepared and cleaned up after use.
The space science industry is increasingly developing, the menu of astronauts does not stop at the level of ensuring adequate nutrients. Astronauts can bring into space the traditional dishes of their country. For example, when the Chinese made their first space flight in 2003, astronaut Yang Liwei brought along Yuxiang pork, Kung Pao chicken, rice, and herbal tea. The Japanese bring sushi, ramen… to meet their culinary needs. Meanwhile, the Russians have Borsch (red beet soup) and gourds, curds and nuts.
In fact, you can completely swallow food in a weightless environment.
This is what John Glenn was concerned about when he made his space trip in 1962. But all concerns were immediately resolved because he was completely able to eat and drink normally when in this environment. Swallowing is aided by a peristalsis in the esophagus, the contraction and tone of the throat muscles that guide food into the stomach rather than by gravity.
The lack of gravity greatly affects human senses and digestive processes, especially hearing and taste. This process changes the taste, the spice of the food becomes more pungent. In addition, when drinking carbonated beverages, water and gas are often separated in the stomach, and lead to heartburn. To overcome this, carbonated drink manufacturers, specifically Coke/Pepsi, have improved and produced drinks suitable for the zero-gravity environment, helping astronauts feel taste as good as in normal environment.