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NASAfacts

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Space Food

Many people ask NASA what and how the astronauts

at aboard the space shuttle and the International

Space Station. The foods they eat are not provided

in tubes and they are neither bland nor unsavory.

Food systems and menu items have evolved

tremendously since the days of Project Mercury.

Here’s a look at how food systems and menu items

have evolved, what and how astronauts in space eat

now and what future voyagers may eat.

History

The food that NASA’s early astronauts had to eat

in space is a testament to their fortitude. John

Glenn, America’s first man to eat anything in the

near-weightless environment of Earth orbit, found

the task of eating fairly easy, but the menu limited.

Other Mercury astronauts had to endure bite-sized

cubes, freeze-dried powders and semi-liquids

packaged in aluminum tubes. Most agreed the

foods were unappetizing and disliked squeezing

the tubes. Moreover, freeze-dried foods were hard

to rehydrate and crumbs had to be prevented from

fouling instruments.

Eating on the Gemini missions improved

somewhat. Bite-sized cubes were

coated with gelatin to reduce crumbling,

and the fr

eeze-dried foods were encased

in a special plastic container to make

reconstituting easier. With improved

packaging came improved food quality

and menus. Gemini astronauts had such

food choices as shrimp cocktail, chicken

and vegetables, butterscotch pudding

and applesauce. Astronauts were able

to select meal combinations themselves.

By the time of the Apollo Program, the

quality and variety of food increased

even further. Apollo astronauts were the

first to have hot water

, which made

rehydrating foods easier and improved

the food’s taste. These astronauts were

also the first to use utensils via the “spoon bowl,”

a plastic container that could be opened and its

contents eaten with a spoon. Thermostabilized

pouches were also introduced on Apollo.

The task of eating in space got a big boost in Skylab.

Unlike previous space vehicles for astronauts,

Skylab featured a large interior area where space

as available for a dining room and table. Eating

for Skylab’s three-member teams was a fairly

normal operation: Footholds allowed them to situate

themselves around the table and “sit” to eat. Added

to the conventional knife, fork and spoon was a pair

of scissors for cutting open plastic seals. Because

Skylab was relatively large and had ample storage

area, it could feature an extensive menu of 72

different food items. It also had a food freezer and

refrigerator—a convenience offered by no other

vehicle before or since.

Space Shuttle Food System

The kinds of foods crew members eat aboard

the space shuttle are not mysterious concoctions,

but foods prepared here on Earth. Many are

commercially available on grocery store shelves.

Astronauts select their menus from a large array

of food items. Diets are designed to supply

each astronaut with 100 percent of the daily

value of vitamins and minerals necessary for the

environment of space.

Foods flown on space missions ar

e r

esearched

and developed at the Space Food Systems

Laboratory at Johnson Space Center in Houston,

which is staffed by food scientists, dietitians and

engineers. Foods are analyzed through nutritional

analysis, sensory evaluation, storage studies,

packaging evaluations and many other methods.

Food evaluations are

onducted with shuttle

flight crews about eight

to nine months before

the scheduled launch

ate. During the food

valuation sessions, the

astronaut samples a

variety of foods and

beverages available for

light. Crew members

choose their menus and

can repeat days at their

discretion. They plan

breakfast, lunch and

dinner; snacks are listed with the meals. Types of food

available include rehydratable, thermostabilized, irradiated

and natural form items.

Rehydratable items include both foods and beverages. One

way to conserve weight during launch is to remove water

from certain food items. During the flight, water generated

by the shuttle fuel cells is added back to the food just before

it is eaten.

Foods packaged in rehydratable containers include soups such

as chicken consommé and cream of mushroom, casseroles

such as macaroni and cheese and chicken and rice, appetizers

such as shrimp cocktail, and breakfast foods such as

scrambled eggs and cereals. Breakfast cereals are prepared by

packaging the cereal in hydratable packages with nonfat dry

milk and sugar, if needed. Water is added to the package just

before the cereal is eaten.

The rehydratable food package is made from flexible material

to aid in trash compression. It consists of a flexible bowl and

lid with a septum adapter for adding water from the galley.

Velcro on the bottom of the package holds it in the meal tray.

After adding the required amount of water to the package,

it is placed in the oven if the food is to be served hot or directly

onto the serving tray if the food is to be served cold. The top of

the package is cut off with a knife or scissors, and the contents

are eaten with a fork or spoon.

Thermostabilized foods are heat processed to destroy

harmful microor

ganisms and enzymes. Individual servings of

thermostabilized foods are commercially available in aluminum

or bimetallic cans, plastic cups or flexible retort pouches.

Most of the fruits and fish, such as tuna and salmon, are

thermostabilized in cans. The cans open with easy-open,

full-panel pullout lids. Puddings are packaged in plastic cups.

Most of the entr

ees ar

e packaged in flexible retort pouches.

This includes products such as beef tips with mushrooms,

tomatoes and eggplant, chicken àla king, and ham. After

the pouches are heated, they ar

e cut open with scissors. The

food is eaten directly from the containers with conventional

eating utensils.

Some irradiated meat items are also available for space

shuttle crews. These products are very similar to

thermostabilized foods in that they are ready to eat and only

require warming prior to consumption. These items are

packaged in flexible pouches.

Foods such as nuts, granola bars and cookies are classified as

atural form foods. They are ready to eat, packaged in clear,

flexible pouches that are cut open with scissors, and require no

further preparation for consumption in flight.

Condiments include commercially packaged individual

pouches of catsup, mustard, mayonnaise, taco sauce and hot

pepper sauce. Polyethylene dropper bottles contain bulk

upplies of liquid pepper and liquid salt. The pepper is

suspended in oil and the salt is dissolved in water.

lour tortillas are a favorite bread item of shuttle astronauts.

Tortillas provide an easy and acceptable solution to the

breadcrumb and microgravity-handling problem and have been

used since 1985.

Beverages come in powdered form and include coffee, tea,

apple cider, orange juice and lemonade. The beverage package

is made from a foil laminate to provide maximum barrier

properties for a longer product shelf life. A septum adapter is

sealed in the package after the beverage powder has been

added. The septum adapter holds a septum that interfaces

with the galley water dispenser for the addition of water and

with a straw for drinking the beverage.

Foods are individually packaged and stowed for easy handling

in microgravity. All food is precooked or processed so it

requires no refrigeration and is either ready to eat or can be

prepared simply by adding water or by heating. The only

exceptions are the fresh fruit and vegetables. Without

refrigeration, the fresh foods must be eaten within the first few

days of the flight or they will spoil.

Once astronauts select their menu about five months before

flight, the menus are analyzed for nutritional content and

recommendations are made to correct any nutrient

deficiencies. The menus are then finalized and provided to the

shuttle food contractor in Houston three months befor

e launch.

Food is packaged and stowed in the locker trays at JSC about

a month before each launch. Stowed food lockers and

shipping containers ar

e kept under refrigeration.

Space Food

About three weeks before launch, the food lockers are shipped

o Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. There they are

refrigerated until they are installed in the shuttle two to three

days before launch. Besides the meal and pantry food lockers,

a fresh food locker is packed at KSC and installed on the

huttle 24 to 36 hours before launch. The fresh food locker

ontains items such as tortillas, bread, breakfast rolls, fruits

and vegetables such as apples, bananas, oranges, carrot

and celery sticks.

Meals are stowed aboard the orbiter in locker trays with food

packages arranged in the order in which they will be used.

label on the front of the locker tray lists the locker contents.

five-section net restraint keeps food packages from floating

out of the locker while keeping visible the items inside.

Astronauts are supplied with three balanced meals plus

snacks. Each astronaut’s food is stored aboard the space

shuttle and is identified by a colored dot affixed to each

package. A supplementary food supply pantry consisting of

two extra days per person is stowed aboard the space shuttle

for each flight. Additional pantry items are flown in case the

flight is unexpectedly extended because of bad weather at the

landing site or for some other unforeseen reason. During the

flight, this food supply provides extra beverages and snacks.

Dining Aboard the Space Shuttle

Meals in space consist of familiar, appetizing, well-accepted

food items that can be prepared quickly and easily. A full meal

for a crew of four can be set up in about five minutes.

Reconstituting and heating the food takes an additional 20 to

30 minutes—about the time it takes to fix a snack at home and

far less than it takes to cook a complete meal.

On the space shuttle, food is prepared at a galley installed on

the orbiter’s middeck. The galley is a modular unit that contains

a water dispenser and an oven. The water dispenser is used for

rehydrating foods and beverages, and the galley oven is used

for warming foods to the proper serving temperature.

During a typical meal in space, a meal tray is used to hold the

food containers. The tray can be attached to an astronaut’s lap

by a strap or attached to a wall. The meal tray becomes the

astronaut’s dinner plate and enables the astronaut to choose

from several foods at once, just like a meal at home. Without

the tray

, the contents of one container must be completely

consumed before opening another. The tray also holds the food

packages in place and keeps them fr

om floating away

Following the meal, food containers ar

e discarded in the trash

compartment below the middeck floor. Eating utensils and food

trays are cleaned with premoistened sanitizing towelettes.

International Space Station Food System

For shuttle flights, the menu planning process starts eight to

nine months before the scheduled launch. For space station

expeditions, menu planning is not based on when the crew is

scheduled to launch, but rather on when the food for that crew

is scheduled to launch. Thus, when a cr

ew arrives on boar

d the

station, a good portion of its food is already there.

Space station crew members have a menu cycle of eight

days, meaning the menu repeats every eight days. This cycle

may be increased to add further variety to the menus. Half

f the food system is U.S. and half is Russian; plans are to

include foods of other space station partner countries in

the future, including Japan and Canada. The packaging

system for the daily menu food is based on single-service,

isposable containers. Single-service containers eliminate

he need for a dishwasher.

ince the electrical power for the space station is generated

from solar panels rather than from fuel cells (as on the shuttle),

there is no extra water generated on board the station. Water

is recycled from cabin air, but not enough for significant use

n the food system. Hence, the percentage of rehydratable

oods will decrease and the percentage of the thermostabilized

foods will increase over time. However, in general, the space

station food system is similar to the shuttle food system

using the same types of

food—thermostabilized,

rehydratable, natural form

and irradiated—and the

same packaging methods

and materials.

As on the shuttle, beverages

on the space station are in

powdered form. The water

temperature is different on

the station; unlike the shuttle,

there is no chilled water.

Station crew members have

only ambient warm and hot

water available to them.

All space station increment crew members taste or sample

every U.S. food item and rate them based upon how

well they like them. Then, while training in Russia, they

repeat the procedure for the Russian food items. U.S. and

Russian dietitians use those ratings to plan menus for each

Expedition crew.

Once the menu is compiled, the crews attend a training

session in Russia to try the actual menu. The crew makes its

final changes, and the menu is finalized before it is packaged.

The U.S. half of the menu is prepared in Houston and shipped

to Florida or Russia, depending upon where it is going to be

launched. The Russians prepar

e their half of the menu and

launch it on the Progress vehicle. Most of the food is stored

in the Zarya and Node 2 modules in Russian food boxes.

Fresh items are delivered to station crews when either a shuttle

or a Progress docks.

Space station crew members usually eat breakfast and dinner

together. The food preparation area in the Russian Zvezda

service module is used to prepare meals.

It has a fold-down table designed to accommodate three crew

members. Built into that table ar

e food warmers to heat Russian

cans and packages. Since the U.S. foods will not fit into the

slots in the table, a suitcase-like food warmer is used. Adapters

were made to fit into the Russian rehydration station to allow

crew members to rehydrate U.S. foods. Used packaging is

bagged and placed in a Pr

ogr

ess vehicle, which is eventually

jettisoned and burns up upon entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA Facts

Nutrition and Human Spaceflight

ood provides the nutrients that human beings need to

maintain their health. Getting enough calories, vitamins and

minerals is as important for astronauts as it is for people living

on Earth. The space food systems supply a more limited

ariety of items than one would find in the grocery store here

on Earth, so menu planning is very important to make sure the

astronauts can get the nutrients they need from their food.

The nutrients astronauts need in space are the same ones all

people need, but the amounts of some differ. Astronauts need

the same number of calories for energy during spaceflight as

hey need on the ground.

The amount of iron in an astronaut’s diet should be less than

0 milligrams per day for both men and women. Astronauts

have fewer red blood cells while they are in space. Most of the

iron absorbed from food goes into new red blood cells. If

astronauts were to eat foods high in iron, the iron would be

stored in their bodies and could cause health problems.

Sodium and vitamin D affect bone density. The amount of

sodium in the astr

onauts’ diet is limited because too much can

lead to bone loss as well as other health problems. The body

usually makes vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight,

but spacecraft are shielded to protect the astronauts from

harmful radiation. On Earth and in microgravity, people need

vitamin D for healthy bones. Vitamin D supplements are

recommended for space travelers on the space station since

the current space foods do not provide enough of this vitamin.

As the body adapts to weightlessness, many physiological

changes occur. Many of these can affect nutrition or be

affected by it. The changes include loss of bone and muscle,

changes in heart and blood vessel function, and changes in

blood and the amount of fluid in different areas of the body.

While consuming enough nutrients may not stop these

changes, consuming too few nutrients may make the situation

worse. Astronauts usually lose weight during spaceflight. Being

sure they eat enough calories is important because if they eat

enough calories, they will also eat enough of most other

nutrients, including vitamins and minerals.

For space station crew members, it is important that they begin

their mission in excellent health, maintain that state of health as

much as possible, then get back to it as quickly as possible

after the mission. Space station crew members have their

nutritional status checked before, during and after flight to help

each this goal. Before and after flight, blood and urine

samples from crew members are analyzed for chemicals that

indicate nutritional status (bone health, vitamins, minerals, etc.).

During the mission, crew members fill out a computerized food

frequency questionnaire to report what foods they have eaten

during the previous week. The computer results are sent

electr

onically to the gr

ound, and nutrition specialists analyze

the data right away so they can recommend ways to improve

the astronauts’ dietary intake.

Throughout history, nutrition has played a critical role in

xploration, and space exploration is no exception. As mission

lengths increase from weeks on the shuttle to several months

on the space station, and perhaps to years on a mission to

another planet, nutrition becomes even more important.

Advanced Food for Potential Future Use

Two different food systems

will be used for future long-

uration missions to other

lanets, one for traveling to

and from the distant body

and one for use on the

surface of the moon or Mars.

The transit food system will

be similar to the space

station food system with the

exception that products with

three-to five-year shelf lives

will be needed, especially for

a mission to Mars. Thus, this part of the trip will be similar to

what occurs aboard space missions now—eating out of food

packages and heating food items in a similar fashion.

The surface food system, be it lunar or planetary, will be quite

different. It will be similar to a vegetarian diet that someone

could cook on Earth—minus the dairy products. Once crew

members arrive on the surface and establish living quarters,

they can start growing crops. Possible crops that could be

grown and harvested include potatoes (sweet and white),

soybeans, wheat, peanuts, dried beans, lettuce, spinach,

tomatoes, herbs, carrots, radishes, cabbage and rice. Once

the crops are processed into edible ingredients, cooking will

be done in the spacecraft’s galley to make the food items.

Disposal of used food packaging will be an issue since there

will be no Progress vehicles to send off and incinerate into

the Earth’s atmosphere. Packaging materials will be used that

have less mass but sufficient barrier properties for oxygen and

water to maintain shelf life as those now in use.

Web Sites

For more information on space food and nutrition, visit:

http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/living/spacefood/index.html

http://advlifesupport.jsc.nasa.gov

http://jsc-web-pub.jsc.nasa.gov/hefo/hhfo/aft

http://haco.jsc.nasa.gov/biomedical/nutrition

For more information about NASA, visit www.nasa.gov

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas 77058

www.nasa.gov

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