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- When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to land on the moon, they weren’t treated to culinary delicacies on board the Apollo 11 spacecraft.
- Their meals consisted of beef and vegetables that had been dehydrated and stuffed into a package.
- Today’s astronaut food is prepared similarly, but contains a lot more variety and flavor.
- In the future, astronauts could be able to grow their own fresh fruit and vegetables in space.
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July 20 marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step onto the moon.
In the years since that crowning moment, the US space program has witnessed countless other achievements: the landing of a spacecraft on Mars, the launch of the Hubble telescope, and the permanent occupancy of the International Space Station.
It also also managed to improve the culinary experience for astronauts. While today’s astronauts still eat packaged meals, their food has a lot more variety and flavor than what Armstrong and Aldrin ate in 1969.
Take a look at the evolution of astronaut food from the 1960s to now.
1962: John Glenn was the first American to eat in space. He had applesauce from a tube.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum
The first person to eat in outer space (and the first human to venture there) was Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, who orbited earth on board the Vostok 1 in April 1961. Gagarin ate beef and liver paste squeezed from a tube, followed by chocolate sauce for dessert.
Glenn’s meal on board Friendship 7 in February 1962 was similarly unappetizing. The astronaut consumed applesauce and pureed beef and vegetables from a toothpaste-like tube. He also drank xylose sugar tablets dissolved in water.
1960s: Tang’s powdered formula became popular on US spaceflights.
The artificial drink Tang wasn’t very popular when it was released in 1959, but it turned out to be the ideal formula for astronauts since it could be mixed with water. Starting in the 1960s, the drink became so popular on NASA flights, it generated a myth that the product was developed for space.
Though John Glenn brought the drink along on his 1962 flight, the astronaut later admitted he didn’t enjoy it very much.
But Tang in space doesn’t look the same as Tang on the ground. It’s sealed in a pouch that astronauts inject with water using a needle. They then sip the mixture — which is labeled "orange drink" or "peach mango drink" instead of Tang — through a straw.
1965: NASA dehydrated food and sealed it in plastic bags.
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NASA’s Gemini program conducted its first manned flight in 1965. In preparation for that launch, NASA began dehydrating food and sealing it in plastic bags. The bags were labeled with instructions on how to rehydrate the food in space using water.
Food items prepared for Gemini astronauts included scrambled eggs, shrimp with cocktail sauce, curried chicken, and raisin rice pudding. Drinks included coffee, grape juice, and milk.
Since weightless astronauts exerted less energy in space, meals contained fewer calories compared to what the astronauts were used to eating on earth. On average, the food consisted of 17% protein, 32% fat, and 51% carbohydrates.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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- There was no toilet on the Apollo moon missions — here’s how the astronauts went to the bathroom
- An Apollo astronaut says the greatest moment of NASA’s program was not the moon landing — it was the ‘cosmic birth’ of humanity
SEE ALSO: An Apollo astronaut says the greatest moment of NASA’s program was not the moon landing
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Aria Bendix)