Being an astronaut is pretty glamorous – except when it comes to the food. Food in space isn’t very palatable. There are many hazards and dangers created by the space environment that put constraints on what astronauts can eat. Food needs to be preserved properly. It is hard to heat up, and sometimes the astronauts find it just plain hard to eat in zero-G.
Let’s take bread for example. Bread creates crumbs, and in zero-G, this could be a real problem. Floating crumbs could get in an astronaut’s eye or float into machinery and start a fire.
But food in space is constantly evolving. Today, we talk to Sebastian Marcu, CEO, and Neil Jaschinski, engineer, of a company called Bake In Space. Their company is seeking ways not only to bring bread into space, but to bake it in space as well. This will give astronauts a more balanced diet, a taste of home, and the wonderful smell of baked bread. They argue that, especially for long duration space flight, the psychological well-being a taste of home can provide is just as important as the nutritional content.
What kinds of bread are best for space flight? How challenging is it to make an oven that can be used on the space station? And what other kinds of food have been brought to space? Find out in the podcast!