Believe it or not, astronaut food is not that different from the food we eat on Earth. Astronauts can choose from a variety of foods such as fruits, nuts, peanut butter, chicken, beef, seafood, candy, brownies, and more.

It is extremely expensive to launch astronauts into space. It costs $10,000 per pound to launch the space shuttle, so the weight of objects in the shuttle are very important. Therefore, NASA eliminates some weight by removing water from most of the prepackaged foods, a process known as dehydration, (like the way a wet sponge gets smaller if you leave it out to dry and then expands again when you put it in water). The food is later rehydrated in orbit with water from the space shuttle’s fuel cells.  

Try making your own astronaut meal with this recipe we found from SpaceCenter.org!

Materials

• Tang

• Chocolate pudding

• Oatmeal

• 1 tablespoon

• 3 Ziplock bags (with zipper)

• 1 straw

Directions

1. Measure 2 tablespoons of tang into the first plastic bag.

2. Fill the bag about 1/4 full of water, zip the bag and slowly shake the bag to mix the contents.

3. Measure about 4 tablespoons of chocolate pudding into the second zip lock bag.

4. Add just enough water so that the pudding is not runny and mix the chocolate pudding with the water by squishing the bag.

5. Measure about 3 tablespoons of oatmeal into the last zip lock bag.

6. Add just enough water so that the oatmeal is not runny, squish the bag and mix the contents.

7. Once all of the food is prepared, slowly open one corner of the drink packet and put the straw in the bag. Tighten the area around the straw so it does not move.

8. Dig in and enjoy!