New Delhi, Feb 4: Amid a large number of astronauts traveling from Earth to space they face multiple problems. With passage of time their diet and habits are completely different because of the microgravity in the atmosphere. Astronauts take everything to space, and the toilets there are different alongwith their fooding habits.
Weight and volume have always been the primary design factors for every piece of hardware launched into space.
Mealtime in microgravity usually consists of thermo-stabilized or freeze-dried entrees and snacks in disposable packages and pouches. Astronauts heat them up in an oven or add water before chowing down with a fork straight out of the package. The space station doesn’t have refrigerators or freezers to keep food fresh, so there’s no such thing as leftovers.
Despite the almost alien process of eating, astronauts consume many of the foods they would find back home: scrambled eggs, spaghetti, chicken teriyaki, broccoli au gratin, oatmeal with raisins. During the holidays, they have turkey, candied yams, cornbread dressing, and other seasonal foods. The current menu includes about 200 foods and beverages. Some items can be eaten in their natural form, like nuts and cookies. But most of the food has to be prepared in a laboratory and carefully tested over and over, to ensure it’s fit for consumption but can also last for two years before opening. Some of the prep veers into Food Network territory: The lab gets volunteers to judge food items on appearance, color, flavor, texture, and aroma.
Notably, the process of developing a microgravity-friendly food item can take months or years, says Vickie Kloeris, the food scientist who runs the ISS food-systems lab.
