Space Food

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What is space food?

Space food is food that is made for conditions in space, mainly gravity-less food that is non-perishable, some foods like salt and pepper are available but they are not available in their rocky form, in space they are made into a liquid so they will not get in the way of the astronauts.

What are some types of space foods?

Rehydratable Food:

Rehydratable Food is food where water is removed from the food making it easier to store, before the food is eaten again, water is re-added to the food before it is eaten

Thermostablized Food:

Thermostablized Food is food which can be placed in room temperature and are placed in cans, some foods that are thermostablized are tuna fish and fruits

Intermediate Moisture Food:

Intermediate Moisture Food is food where water is taken out but enough water is left to preserve the softness of the food, some foods like these are dried peaches, beef jerky, and pears

Natural Food Form:

Natural Form Food is food where it is ready to eat and packed in flexible pouches or bags, some of these foods are nuts, granola bars and cookies

Irradiated Food:

Irradiated Food is food where it is wrapped in foil pouches and the food is then sterilized by ionizing radiation (forming everything into ions)

Frozen Food:

Frozen Food in space is quick frozen to prevent large ice crystals and to make sure that the texture and quality of the food stays the same

Fresh Food:

Fresh Food is just food that is fresh like we have on Earth

Refrigerated Food:

Refrigerated Foods are foods that need cold or cool temperatures to make sure that it will not spoil

What are some recipes for space food?

SPACE Peanut Butter&Jelly WRAP

Ingredients:

• 1 Flour Tortilla

• Favorite Peanut Butter

• Favorite Jelly

Directions: Spread thin layer of peanut butter on tortilla. Add a thin layer of jelly.
Fold and enjoy.

Cornbread Dressing

Directions:

Preheat convection oven to 325° F. Conventional oven should be heated to 350° F.
Grease 9 x 13-inch baking pan.
Peel onions and puree in food processor. Place in bowl. Set aside.
Finely chop celery in food processor. Add to onion puree. Set aside.
Heat sauté pan over medium heat. Melt butter and sauté onion and celery mixture until soft (about 5 minutes).
Add to crumbled, prepared cornbread. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine salt, poultry seasoning, black pepper, parsley and sage.
Add to cornbread-sautéed vegetable mixture.
Add chicken broth. Mix well. Spoon dressing into prepared baking pan.
Bake for approximately 35 minutes at 325° F or 350° F, depending on oven.

For space flight preparation: Baked dressing is transferred to metal tray and freeze-dried accordingly. One serving of cornbread dressing shall weigh approximately 145 g prior to freeze-drying and 50 g after freeze-drying.

Please note: This recipe is based on the "formulations" for actual space flight missions. Actual measurements are estimates.

Sources:

    http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/living/spacefood/index.html

    http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlnasa/units/SpaceFoodNutrition/10.pdf

    http://space.about.com/cs/iss/a/issholidaymeal.htm

    http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/living/spacefood/cornbread_dressing.html

Images From:

    http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/living/images/space_food.jpg

    http://history.nasa.gov/SP-368/p454a.jpg

    http://www.tistr-foodprocess.net/image/image_food%20world/food-world-4.gif

    http://spacebio.net/modules/mn_resource/nutrition/img007.jpg

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/images/300/fruit_medley.jpg

    http://temagami.carleton.ca/jmc/cnews/21032003/news/images/n1photo1.jpg

    http://nomm.com/FineArt/images/FrozenFood.jpg

    http://www.worldsquare.com.au/site/resources/images/shopping_freshFood.jpg

    http://www.refrigeratedfoods.com/images/SSGroupPic.jpg