What comes to mind when you hear the words, “International Space Station”? You probably get mental images of seeing the Earth directly from space.
You might think of multicultural cooperation as astronauts from different countries come together to conduct research in a variety of fields such as astrobiology, astronomy, meteorology, and physics, amongst others. But do you ever think food? Probably not.
The International Space Station might be a lot of different things, but the one thing we don’t imagine it to be is a hub of gourmet cuisine. That being said, it does raise one question that we might all have on our minds: What do astronauts eat while they’re up in space?
It’s not like they can just hit the nearest drive-thru if they get hungry. They’re well above the Earth and civilization, so it stands to reason that all the food that they’ll be consuming will probably have to go with them into space.
Recently, Kevin Pang from America’s Test Kitchen had a very insightful conversation with NASA Astronaut Megan McArthur regarding food aboard the International Space Station. It may or may not be what you imagined.
Firstly, it’s not all tang as some might think. According to McArthur, the food that goes into space is already prepared and doesn’t require any cooking time.
She explained that much of it is almost like canned food, as it’s heat-treated and then placed into pouches for easy serving. She also shared that the food going into space is surprisingly varied, the only thing is it must be shelf-stable in order to last.
Watch the very interesting and insightful clip below:
What do you think of this space food preparation? Would you ever want to experience something similar? Let us know!