Food for astronauts in space, not bad on Earth

Food for the astronauts, the subject was treated by ilfattoalimentare.it. Food in space has been widely narrated at the Technology Festival held in Turin from 7 to November 10.

The food our astronauts are used to today is totally different from that used in the past: it is ever closer in texture and flavor to that consumed on Earth. However, food must meet specific requirements, starting with its shelf life. The first thing to keep in mind is that meals are chosen by each astronaut, prepared and shipped to the International Space Station months before their arrival on board. The foods to be launched (with rockets) are dehydrated, freeze-dried, pre-cooked or sterilized in an autoclave (treatment reserved for example for meat), and then stored in aluminum bags or cans. Food usually lasts 18 to 24 months. The water, on the other hand, is constantly recycled, through filtration and distillation.

Each astronaut can choose between two standard menus (American and Russian) and can carry a limited amount of personalized food on board. The current commander of the International Space Station, the Italian Luca Parmitano, during the previous mission Volare had chosen lasagna and caponata.

The Italian start-up is preparing special dishes for ESA astronauts Argotec, which also launched the "space food for the earthly" Ready to Lunch, to let everyone experience the space food (at the time of preparation of this article, all products are sold out). In addition to the food in the envelope, the astronauts have at their disposal sauces, snacks, drinks, desserts, and fresh fruit periodically replenished by the freighters cargo.space_food_lasagna_pillars.

Cooking in space, in most cases means just rehydrating, heating (thanks to a special oven) and composing the dishes. The same applies to beverages, which are supplied in powder form in special bags with straw to which hot or cold water is added at the time. There are two very forbidden things in the condition of microgravity: free water and everything that fluctuates could cause damage to the instruments on board, such as bread crumbs or grains of salt. All liquids, therefore, are dispensed in closed envelopes, salt and pepper are supplied in liquid form, and instead of bread tortillas are preferred: a lesson learned also thanks to the memorable 'space sandwich' which in the 1965 astronaut John Young he took on board the Gemini 3 spaceship in secret.

In the 2015, the first espresso machine, called appropriately, arrived on board the International Space Station ISSpresso and developed by Argotec, the Italian Space Agency and Lavazza. It was not just a quirk for Italian astronauts, but a real scientific experiment to study the behavior of high pressure fluids in microgravity conditions.

 

Food for astronauts in space, not bad on Earth