Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends
How new technologies are modifying our way of life


dimanche 30 novembre 2003
 

What do you think astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) ate for Thanksgiving? Roasted turkey? Wrong answer. In "Orbital Thanksgiving," NASA tells us they had stuffed tortillas. The news release also gives details about food in space.

First, let's look at the Thanksgiving dinner.

On the Station, the holiday table is set with bungee cords and Velcro. There's no heirloom china or tablecloth. Astronauts eat from disposable plastic containers and aluminum pouches. Instead of a carving knife, scissors are more important for meal preparation.
But the dining room view is unmatched, more than 200 miles above the Earth, and the spirit of peace and good will is as warm as at any gravity-bound table. The diners on the Station hold a record among holiday travelers, during the course of a meal, they circle the Earth.

If the view is great, preparing the meals is quite difficult.

Here is a picture of a Russian cosmonaut preparing food in the ISS galley (Credit: NASA).

Preparing meals on ISS
Space and zero gravity offer challenges for food preparation. There is no refrigerator or freezer aboard the Station, so food must remain good for long periods at room temperature. Many offerings are freeze-dried. Others are thermostabilized, just like some foods found in grocery stores that do not require refrigeration. Some items are canned, others, like candy, nuts and cookies, are fine just the way they are on Earth.

Now, let's return to tortillas.

Crumbly or loose foods can float out and contaminate the Station atmosphere, becoming an annoyance or even a hazard to crews and equipment. Many entrees and vegetables are packaged in a thick sauce that helps hold them in a bowl while they are eaten. Tortillas are favored over sandwich bread, because they create fewer crumbs and are easier to handle in microgravity. They also stay fresh longer than sliced bread.

You can find more explanations and images on this NASA's Space Food page.

NASA also provides another paper on space food (PDF format, 315 KB, 4 pages) if you really want more information.

Source: NASA/Johnson Space Center, via Science Daily, November 26, 2003


11:13:02 AM   Permalink   Comments []   Trackback []  


Click here to visit the Radio UserLand website. © Copyright 2004 Roland Piquepaille.
Last update: 01/11/2004; 08:53:17.


November 2003
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
            1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20 21 22
23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30            
Oct   Dec


Search this blog for

Courtesy of PicoSearch


Supported by
BigFitness.com

If you're tired to read about technology, it's time to take a break.
Try their exercise and fitness equipment.
Read more


Personal Links



Other Links

Ars Technica
Bloglines
BoingBoing
Daily Rotation News
del.icio.us
Engadget
Feedster
Gizmodo
I4U News
Mindjack Daily Relay
Nanodot
Slashdot
Smart Mobs
Techdirt
Technorati


People

Paul Boutin
Dan Gillmor
Lawrence Lessig
Jenny Levine
Karlin Lillington
John Robb
Dolores Tam
Jon Udell
Dave Winer


Drop me a note via Radio
Click here to send an email to the editor of this weblog.

E-mail me directly at
pique@noos.fr

Subscribe to this weblog
Subscribe to "Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends" in Radio UserLand.

XML Version of this page
Click to see the XML version of this web page.