![]() The lack of refrigeration on the other hand required most food items to be dehydrated or thermostabilized, apart from a small locker of fresh food intended for immediate consumption. With the advent of the Space Shuttle in 1981, the availability of a galley to both rehydrate and reheat foods made the astronauts’ menus more palatable and varied. “Deke” Slayton by replacing the labels on tubes of borsch with labels from famous Russian vodkas. Leonov played a prank on American astronauts Thomas P. Much of the food aboard the Soviet Soyuz came in tubes, and Soviet Commander Aleksei A. Gibson at the Skylab galley.ĭuring the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) in 1975, American astronauts sampled Russian space food for the first time as crewmembers shared meals during two days of docked activities. The remainder of the food items were stored in cans which provided a long shelf-life. According to Charles Bourland who developed much of the food system for Skylab, about 15 percent of the food supply was frozen and the astronauts could enjoy lobster Newburg, ice cream, and other frozen delicacies. The number of items aboard Skylab didn’t increase very much, but the preservation of some foods did, made possible by the addition of a freezer aboard America’s first space station. Sandwiches were tried but proved less than ideal, as the bread didn’t stay very fresh and caused crumbs that would float away in the cabin and possibly cause harm to sensitive equipment or even get in the astronaut’s eyes or lungs. Some improvements were made in the course of the Apollo program, including the addition of hot water to rehydrate some food items and food that could be eaten out of its bag using a spoon. The food came freeze-dried and prepackaged, requiring the astronauts to add water from the onboard supply. During Apollo missions to the Moon, astronauts had about 70 items to choose from, including entrees, condiments, and beverages. Crewmembers used the spacecraft’s water supply to reconstitute the food prior to eating. Right: Samples of food from the Mercury program.įreeze-dried foods were introduced during the Gemini Program to support astronauts for missions lasting up to two weeks. ![]() Middle: Aluminum tube containing beef and vegetables from Mercury food supplies. Tereshkova eating from a tube during her Vostok 6 mission. These early experiences proved that humans could eat and swallow in weightlessness with no ill effects, although the meals weren’t particularly appetizing. His fellow Mercury astronauts on slightly longer missions consumed other food items also from tubes. Glenn was the first American to eat in space – apple sauce from a toothpaste-like tube. His fellow cosmonauts who flew longer missions, up to five days, also consumed their meals from tubes. For dessert he had a chocolate sauce, eating it using the same method. ![]() During his single orbit around the Earth, he also became the first person to eat in space, squeezing beef and liver paste from an aluminum tube into his mouth. Gagarin made history as the first human in space aboard his Vostok capsule. On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. ![]()
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