Four astronauts are currently heading towards the Moon aboard Nasa’s Orion spacecraft, and while the mission is historic, someone still has to think about lunch.
Space food has come a long way since Apollo’s squeeze-tubes and basic freeze-dried packets, with the Artemis-II menu arguably being considered the most thought-about in the history of human spaceflight.
Here’s what the crew is eating over their 10-day journey.
WHAT WILL ARTEMIS-II ASTRONAUTS EAT?
The crew has access to a broad range of unique menu items.
All food must be shelf-stable, meaning it stays safe to eat without refrigeration for the full duration of the mission as there is no fridge aboard Orion.
Foods are ready-to-eat, rehydratable, thermostabilised, or irradiated.
Thermostabilised means the food has been heat-treated to kill bacteria and seal in freshness, much like a ready-to-eat military meal pouch. Similarly, irradiated food is treated with low-level radiation to extend its shelf life safely, the same process used in some hospital meals.
The crew uses Orion’s potable water dispenser to rehydrate freeze-dried meals, meaning adding water back to food to freshen it up for consumption. Furthermore, a compact, briefcase-style food warmer to heat dishes is also onboard.
Now for the fun part.
The menu includes mango salad, barbecued beef brisket, spicy green beans, and macaroni and cheese. Other items include tortillas, wheat flatbread, vegetable quiche, breakfast sausage, almonds, cashews, and broccoli au gratin.
Five different hot sauces are on board, alongside spreads such as maple syrup, peanut butter, mustard, jam, and honey. Forty-three cups of coffee will help keep the crew alert across 10 days in deep space.
Tortillas are a staple for a reason; crumbly foods like bread or crackers are a genuine hazard in microgravity, the near-weightless environment inside the spacecraft, where loose crumbs float freely and can damage sensitive onboard equipment.
HOW DO PEOPLE EAT IN SPACE?
In space, mealtimes are scheduled, not spontaneous.
On a typical mission day, astronauts have dedicated time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each crew member is allotted two flavoured beverages per day.
Two to three days’ worth of food per crew member is packed together in a single container, giving some flexibility in what they pick. However, during launch and re-entry, Orion’s water dispenser is not operational, so only ready-to-eat food requiring no preparation is available during those phases.
Each crew member sampled and rated all foods during preflight testing, with their preferences balanced against nutritional requirements and Orion’s strict mass and volume limits.
Unlike astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), the Artemis-II crew receives no resupply as what launches with them is all they get.
