Here’s what the Artemis II crew is eating aboard the Orion spacecraft
NASA’s Artemis II astronauts are undeniably making history as they embark on the first crewed mission to the moon in over 50 years. That’s why their nutrition must be of utmost priority.
Contrary to popular belief, space food isn’t just freeze-dried packages or long tubes of bland, colorless and soulless slop. The menu for the Artemis team, which was released by NASA early last month, includes a variety of meal and drink options — 189 unique menu items, to be exact.
For beverages, there are the usual (coffee, green tea, cocoa and lemonade) along with several fun offerings, like a mango-peach smoothie, apple cider, a pineapple drink and three flavors of breakfast drinks: chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. The most common food items include tortillas (58 in total), vegetable quiche, mango salad, barbecued beef brisket, broccoli au gratin, macaroni & cheese and spicy green beans, just to name a few. There are also five different hot sauces for crew members to choose from and six desserts to satisfy their sweet tooth: pudding, cookies, chocolate, cake, candy-coated almonds and cobbler.
“The food flying aboard Artemis II is designed to support crew health and performance during the mission around the Moon,” NASA specifies on its official website. “With no resupply, refrigeration, or late-load capability, all meals must be carefully selected to remain safe, shelf-stable, and easy to prepare and consume in NASA’s Orion spacecraft.”
According to NASA, the Artemis II crew (made up of Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen) was able to “sample, evaluate, and rate all foods on the standard menu during preflight testing.” Their preferences were “balanced with nutritional requirements and what Orion can accommodate.”
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“Food selection for Artemis II considers shelf life, food safety, nutritional value, crew preference, and compatibility with Orion’s mass, volume, and power requirements,” NASA adds. “Foods must be easy to prepare and consume in microgravity, minimize crumbs, and remain safe and stable throughout the mission.”
As for meal selection, NASA says “astronauts have scheduled time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” Each astronaut is “allotted two flavored beverages per day, which may include coffee.” Beverage options are also “limited due to upmass constraints, which restrict how much food and drink can be carried onboard.”
The Orion is scheduled to splash down off the coast of San Diego at approximately 8:07 p.m. on Friday, April 10.
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