You’ve probably spent countless hours of your life wondering about the contents of an astronaut's lunchbox and what they eat to sustain themselves as they orbit around the earth’s atmosphere. Luckily, NASA has just released archived images of the vacuum-packed goods that its astronauts have eaten over the last 50 years. Amazingly, a lot of the astronauts food is much more appetizing than the meals you get on a standard commercial flight.
The images display an advancement in food preparation standards for crew members, ranging from basics like crackers and seeds to decidedly more fancy meals like vacuum-packed shrimp and meats. There are even a couple of sneaky sweet treats like M&M’s in there. The images show trays from the 70s with special spaces to avoid things getting messy in anti-gravity atmospheres.
Photo Credits: designboom | NASA
What's Driving This Trend
- Space Food Evolution
- The evolution of space food presents an opportunity to develop manufacturing processes that optimizes taste and nutrition while retaining its structural integrity in extreme environments.
- Packaged Food Innovation
- Innovations in packaging technology to ensure the preservation of food quality and shelf life can lead to opportunities in the commercial food industry.
- Nutrition for Travelers
- Development of nutrient-dense, portable meal rations can provide healthy and convenient food options for travelers and outdoor enthusiasts.
Who This Affects Most
- Food Manufacturing Industry
- By conducting research on improved space food manufacturing techniques, the food manufacturing industry can develop better ways of delivering quality food in extreme environments that can also cater to commercial applications.
- Packaging Industry
- The production of innovative and eco-friendly packaging solutions can provide businesses with practical ways of preserving the quality of food products.
- Travel and Outdoor Retail Industry
- Developing nutritious, shelf-stable meals can create a new line of food products for retailers that cater to travelers and outdoor enthusiasts.
