What Do Astronauts Have for Lunch?
The history of space food
The vastness of space is cold, dark, and scary. At the same time, it is also awesome, inspiring, and surreal. Currently, only a few select people have the privilege of experiencing life outside of planet Earth. They are special because of training that gives them a unique set of skills to survive in space. Sometimes though, we forget that these special people are still people. And just like all of us, they need to eat to live.
So, what gastronomical curiosities await these explorers in space? Unfortunately, the first few space launches didn’t have very appetizing lunches.
The first meals in space
The first meal in space was eaten in 1961 by Yuri Gagarin, a Russian astronaut aboard Vostok 1. For lunch, he squeezed and ate puréed meat from a toothpaste-type aluminum tube, then did the same with another containing chocolate sauce. It wasn’t too tasty, but it kept him fueled up.
The following year, on-board Friendship 7 as part of Project Mercury, John Glenn became the first American to eat in outer space. He also took his meal from a tube, which contained puréed…
