Probably every boy in his childhood dreamed of becoming an astronaut, flying to distant stars and founding a colony on Mars. As adults, these guys acquire different professions, but there is hardly anyone among them who would not want to know what the food of astronauts is.
Life on a space station
Some people still realize their childhood dream and get a job on the ISS. Formally, anyone can become an astronaut, not just a military pilot, as before. The determining factor is the state of he alth, which allows to withstand overload and maintain presence of mind in difficult conditions. Now the space tourism industry has begun to develop, that is, even a person completely far from science can get to the ISS simply by paying the appropriate amount. In general, this is also the way to fulfill a childhood dream.
The main difficulty for people who got into space is that in a state of weightlessness it becomes very difficult to perform some seemingly simple and familiar actions. Eating, sleeping, writing a note, combing your hair, brushing your teeth - all this turns into a non-trivial task.
Habitual actions
A series of entertaining videos about how difficult the life of astronauts was filmed and uploaded to the popular Youtube resource by Canadian Chris Hadfield, who worked on the ISS in 2012-2013. In particular, he touched on the unusualness of such actions as shaving, cooking, sleeping, brushing teeth, playing the guitar, washing hands, cutting nails, etc., if all this takes place in space. His channel has gained thousands of fans, and on the back of this success, Samantha Cristoforetti made a similar video showing astronauts washing their hair and taking a shower. All this looks very unusual and funny, because it is difficult for earthlings to understand what it is like to live in zero gravity.
Sleep
MKS is a few compartments, but these are not rooms, as in an ordinary house. Most of the space is occupied by equipment, so there is simply nowhere to arrange several bedrooms. Astronauts have a special compartment where there are nooks and crannies in which their sleeping bags float. Climbing inside, they zip up and just fall asleep. As they themselves admit, at first it is very unusual that the head should not be put on the pillow, but then it becomes commonplace.
Food
But this is the most interesting. All liquids in zero gravity take the form of a ball. And from any touch they can crumble into thousands of small bubbles, which then have to be caught with a vacuum cleaner. Therefore, from the very beginning, the nutrition of astronauts was a non-trivial task. However, through the efforts of many scientists around the world, it was solved, and the resulteven received some development in five decades. So, what is the name of astronaut food and what does it currently look like?
Most think of it as the unappetizing goo in tubes that is the dream of every boy and some adults. But this is not very relevant for today. Researchers quite successfully make sandwiches from special bread that does not crumble under weightless conditions, canned food and products dried using a special technology, which must be diluted with water before use, are also popular. This is done in order to reduce the mass of food and its volume, because the delivery of each kilogram of cargo costs 5-10 thousand dollars. At the same time, the quality and taste characteristics do not suffer at all. For a long time, almost 70% of the menu of American astronauts consisted of semi-finished products, but now there are fewer of them, and all the same freeze-dried products have come to replace them.
But some scientists still prefer to take their favorite delicacies with them - if not openly, then at least secretly. They do not always succeed. Although, when the Japanese worked in space, they ate according to their usual menu: sushi, green tea, noodle soup, etc. The French took truffles into orbit, and one even wanted to take blue cheese with him, but he was not allowed to do, fearing that this would disrupt the biological situation at the station. But, fortunately, astronauts' food in tubes is not the only thing today.accessible to modern conquerors of the universe. Fresh fruits and vegetables are always available on the ISS, and in case of special requests, you can always ask for something delicious to be delivered. True, the problem is tea - it is not always possible to get it.
Diet
Scientists on the ISS need to eat in a special way, because they experience such loads that are unfamiliar to those who live in gravity. The body is being rebuilt and its needs are changing. In addition, the food for them should be balanced, varied and tasty, as well as convenient to eat in such unusual conditions.
This task first became relevant before Gagarin's flight in 1961. And then a separate laboratory was established at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the task of which was to feed astronauts in space. It is still working and has made a big step forward in half a century.
Yuri Gagarin himself was the first to taste the food in tubes. He had meat and chocolate, previously tested by pilots. The second was German Titov, who ate in space three times. His menu consisted of pate, soup and compote. And he, returning to earth, admitted that he felt weak from hunger.
Then scientists thought not only about the form, but also about the content: food should be simple, quite satisfying and high-calorie, well absorbed by the body, but at the same time tasty and varied. Now in Russia there are about 250 types of products prepared foreating in zero gravity, so you can say that the problem is solved, the menu can be compared with what is offered by the best restaurants. At the same time, all products are additionally enriched with calcium, since life in space negatively affects bone tissue and the musculoskeletal system.
How does food get to the ISS?
Modern missions are long enough. Often, astronauts spend about a year in orbit, but there is simply nowhere to store supplies for all this time on the ISS. Fortunately, a shuttle is regularly sent to the station, delivering payloads, taking something with it to the ground, and sometimes taking researchers home, bringing new ones.
So, a few months ago, after the unsuccessful launch of several Russian rockets launched from Baikonur, the cosmonauts began to run out of food. Of course, the situation was not critical, and later the food was delivered to them.
Future menu
Given the grandiose plans of NASA in the foreseeable future to send an expedition to Mars to colonize it, now the issue is not preparing food on Earth, but growing it in space. Researchers on the ISS are also working on this task. Well, the technologies by which food is prepared for astronauts seem to have reached their ceiling at the moment. Even cottage cheese, which is in great demand among the inhabitants of the International Space Station, is dehydrated, because even after processing it does not lose its taste.
Where to try?
Astronaut food for children and adults interested in this issue has recently been available. There are 11 dishes to choose from, the price of one tube is 300 rubles. All food is completely natural, does not contain flavor enhancers, preservatives and GMOs, which, due to some features, in principle, food for astronauts cannot contain. At VDNKh, which has regained its old name, it has been on sale since about February. In the legendary pavilion No. 32, you can buy the "Cosmonaut's Food" set, which will contain tubes of first, second courses or desserts. According to the organizers of the exhibition themselves, all the food is completely authentic to the one that the researchers take with them to the ISS. It is planned that soon there will also be vending machines for this food - it is in such demand. Perhaps the menu will expand.
