Expedition 61 crew members NASA astronaut Christina H. Koch, left, Aleksandr A. Skvortsov of Roscosmos, NASA astronaut Jessica U. Meir, Oleg I. Skripochka of Roscosmos, NASA astronaut Andrew R. Morgan, and Luca S. Parmitano of the European Area Company have a good time Thanksgiving collectively on the Worldwide Area Station. (Credit score: NASA)
Astronauts aboard the Worldwide Area Station will likely be distant from household and pals this Thanksgiving however will nonetheless get pleasure from what feels like a fantastic meal.
The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked and delivered provides Nov. 11 that included vacation treats for the Expedition 70 crew from NASA. This yr’s menu contains turkey, duck, quail, seafood, cranberry sauce, kits to make pizza, hummus, salsa and olives. The crew can get pleasure from chocolate, pumpkin spice cappuccino, rice desserts, and mochi for dessert.
That’s not all. Oranges, apples, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and a collection of specialty cheeses had been additionally prepped for the crew, stated Dana Weigel, deputy program supervisor of the Worldwide Area Station Program, in NASA’s media teleconference for the SpaceX CRS-29 Prelaunch.
There’s fairly a little bit of science to consuming in space. NASA explains it nicely on this video beneath.
The meals is specifically ready at NASA’s Area Meals Techniques Laboratory to be nutritious, tasty, and fit for human consumption in space. It’s prepped and sealed in plastic packets to make sure a protracted shelf life. The meals can simply be reheated or rehydrated, in accordance with the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
The menu for 2023 reveals how far space eating has come. Now, let’s take a look at among the earlier vacation meals celebrated in low-earth orbit starting with the primary.
1976
The primary Thanksgiving in space was celebrated aboard Skylab 4, which launched on Nov. 16, 1973.
On Nov. 22, 1973, astronauts Gerald P. Carr, William E. Pogue, and Edward G. Gibson celebrated with two meals at meal time after the workforce accomplished a spacewalk that took 6 hours and 33 minutes. The meals didn’t embrace any particular objects to have a good time the vacation.
Thanksgiving in space within the Nineteen Eighties
The following time astronauts had been in space for Thanksgiving was in 1985; this time, they indulged in festive meals. After launching into space aboard space shuttle Atlantis on Nov. 26, 1985, the crew shared shelf-stable turkey, cranberry sauce and shrimp cocktail.
Meats eaten in space should be irradiated. The method reduces the variety of foodborne pathogens and parasites within the meat, making it secure after being saved for months, per The Independent.
Tortillas, launched by astronaut Neri Vela, had been additionally on the menu and have grow to be a staple in space since then. The flat meals merchandise doesn’t drop crumbs, making it splendid for meals in zero gravity, in accordance with a press release.
In 1989, the STS-33 crew celebrated Thanksgiving on the Discovery orbiter.
Thanksgiving in space within the Nineties
Two years later, in 1991, the STS-44 crew had a vacation dinner on the Atlantis orbiter. Astronauts aboard two completely different spacecraft in several orbits celebrated Thanksgiving within the mid-90s. STS-80 astronauts Kent V. Rominger, Tamara E. Jernigan, Story Musgrave, Thomas D. Jones, and Kenneth D. Cockrell shared a meal on the Columbia orbiter’s middeck. On the identical time, NASA astronaut John E. Blaha celebrated Thanksgiving on the Russian space station, Mir, with cosmonauts Valeri G. Korzun and Aleksandr Y. Kaleri. Each crews exchanged vacation greetings over the radio. The event marked essentially the most astronauts in space on Thanksgiving Day.
However the document was damaged in 1997 when NASA astronaut David A. Wolf, Russian cosmonauts Anatoli Y. Solovev, and Pavel V. Vinogradov had been on Mir. Presently, the STS-87 crew was additionally in orbit on the Columbia orbiter, setting the document for 9 astronauts in space on Thanksgiving Day. The crew on Mir had milk, peas, freeze-dried mashed potatoes, and turkey.
The 2000s and past
On Nov. 23, 2000, astronauts of the Expedition 1 crew celebrated the primary Thanksgiving on the Worldwide Area Station. The meal included ham and smoked turkey. Since then, Thanksgiving is well known each November from space. In 2001, Expedition 3 crew members celebrated their vacation with a meal full with a cardboard turkey ornament.
For 2002, STS-113 and Expedition 5 and 6 crews had a meal on the ISS of turkey, mashed potatoes, inexperienced beans with mushrooms, and blueberry-cherry cobbler for dessert.
In 2008, the Thanksgiving dinner was reheated within the space shuttle Endeavour’s meals hotter. Expedition 18 and STS-126 crew members munched on candied yams, inexperienced beans, mushrooms, cornbread dressing, and a cranapple deal with.
The next yr, in 2009, 12 total astronauts from the STS-129 and Expedition 21 made up essentially the most internationally numerous group on prime of being essentially the most variety of astronauts in space that celebrated Turkey Day.
The crews celebrated the vacation two days early because the Atlantis orbiter was scheduled to undock on Thanksgiving Day. The groups represented the U.S., Belgium, Canada, and Russia.
