Did You Know: Space – What do astronauts eat in space?
Astronauts living in space need to eat three meals a day. The food they eat is similar to ours, but it needs to be “cooked” and eaten differently.
Astronauts aren’t allowed crumbly food such as bread because the crumbs can float around and clog up the spacecraft’s air vents!
Making dinner
Many space meals are dried. To prepare them, astronauts inject hot water into the packages and wait several minutes before eating them.
Eating food
Astronauts don’t use plates, knives, and forks. Instead, they can use spoons, “sip” their food through plastic tubes, or eat it as it floats in front of them.
Vacuum-sealed
Many space meals are vacuum-sealed. This means that all the air is sucked out of the packet, so the food stays fresh for a long time.
What other things are difficult to do in space?
Brushing teeth
There’s no running water in space, so astronauts soak their toothbrushes before cleaning their teeth. After brushing, they swallow their toothpaste because there’s nowhere to spit it out.
Using the bathroom
Going to the bathroom is very different in space.
Astronauts need to strap their legs down, so they don’t float away. A space toilet works a bit like a vacuum cleaner, sucking human waste away!