Food in Space: Great Photos of Astronaut Meals, from the Early Space Voyages to Today

Nowadays , cosmonaut eat food that ’s as good as what you may get anywhere on Earth . But back in the day , place nutrient amount in weird tubes , like toothpaste . Or was shaped into blobs of tasteless scoop . Here are some fascinating , colourful photos of food for thought items in space , from the former days of infinite travel to today .

In her book Packing for Mars , Mary Roach explains :

Space nutrient must be both lightweight and dense in calories . Therefore , bacon move into a hydraulic press to become a “ Bacon Square ” and toast becomes a “ Toasted Bread Cube ” colour with a layer of eatable fat design to keep crumbs in check . Because carbonation bubbles wo n’t rise to the surface without gravity , beer is a no - go in space . shake work just fine , however , as does grapefruit juice .

Check out NASA’sSpace Food Hall of Fame , which explains :

Today ’s space nutrient has amount a long way since the Mercury Program of the early sixties . When John Glenn first tried apple sauce from a squeeze tube onboard his Friendship 7 spacecraft in 1962 , who could have dreamed that late astronauts would be able to choose from such a wide change of foods ? Space foods have evolved from primitive pastes or cube to fully cooked , “ thermostabilized ” entrees similar to the military ’s MREs ( meal quick - to - use up ) .

Above: Astronauts Thomas Stafford and Donald Slayton hold containers of Soviet borsch in the Soyuz Orbital Module

During the US - USSR Apollo - Soyuz Test Project in 1975 – pictured below .

( viaArchive.org )

A tube of borscht soup, produced in Estonia for the Soviet space program

( viaWikimedia Commons )

Tang

The powdered orange - flavor drunkenness was available on the food market from 1959 , and later used by the first Gemini flights and the last Mercury missions .

( viaGono )

Mercury and Gemini Food (1961-1966)

( viaspace.com )

Skylab Food and Tray (1973-1974)

Shrimp Cocktail

The shrimp , coat in a spicy sauce was the six - time aviator Story Musgrave ’s favourite : he wipe out them at every meal . The sauce wakes up appreciation bud , which are really infirm because of the weightlessness .

( viaAll That Splatters )