Space food

Do you want to know what and how cosmonauts eat in space? Space food is significantly different from typical food we eat on Earth, and the main difference is the way this food is cooked and packed. You have a chance not only to learn about it, but to taste cosmonaut food and get to cook it using dedicated simulator which is considered a part of hardware for cosmonaut training on the ISS Russian segment life support system. It is intended to be used for cosmonaut training on food cooking assets and efficient food consumption onboard the orbital complex.

Just imagine how complicated for cosmonauts regular daily activities can be! They live in zero-gravity environment for the entire time! Even lunch for cosmonauts becomes a big thing when they get to use their skills acquired during training at GCTC.

Being on the ground the crew members learn how to warm up cans with food in custom-built food warmers, rehydrate freeze-dried food packages using dedicated adapters of condensate water recovery system (SRV-К2M). When rehydrating freeze-dried food package, cosmonaut must be careful, any wrong action in zero-gravity may cause much trouble for the crew.

“Setting a table” in orbit is also uncommon. Dedicated cutlery is used for space food onboard the ISS. It is slightly different from what we use on Earth, and, for example, the “dinner table” is equipped with an extraordinary device (not much needed on Earth) called “crumb trap”. What it is and what other unusual devices are used in space, what challenges cosmonauts face when having meals, and space food tastes – find answers to these questions and get to know interesting and educational facts during dedicated lesson on space food.