Serious – and delicious – items going into space

Very detailed update posted yesterday in the Astrium website detailing many of the serious — and delicious — items being carried into orbit by ATV-3. Hint: PIG in a blanket has nothing to do with bacon!

Space fruits with Astro Kuipers Credit: ESA/NASA

In the early days of space travel, eating was a very different experience for astronauts than it is today. Back then, they had to use straws to suck dehydrated, paste-like food out of tubes. But nowadays, eating food in space (apart from certain logistical constraints posed by a zero-gravity environment) is pretty much the same as it is down on Earth. Some foodstuffs can be eaten in their natural form, such as brownies and fruit. Other comestibles, such as pasta, still require water to be added. The ISS is equipped with an oven to heat foods to the proper temperature, but as there are no refrigerators in space, food must be stored and prepared properly to avoid spoilage.

Anything with a high crumble factor – such as crisps and some biscuits – that might stray into the air, causing problems with computers and the ventilation, are excluded.

Let’s have a peek at a few of these carefully stocked items – clearly only a tiny proportion of the wide and varied range of articles making the journey.

Via Astrium