Seven Nightmare Space Foods For Astronauts

According to NASA's Vickie Kloeris, who manages food systems for both U.S. shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) missions, the menu for astronauts in space is very expansive and unique. However, some space foods are actually nightmare to most of them.

Though the freeze-dried ice cream, also known as “astronaut ice cream”, was sold in space museum gift shops across the United States, it actually left the Earth only one time in 1968’s Apollo 7. According to Vickie Kloeris, the ice cream is really just a hard cotton candy that's extremely crumbly and nothing like real ice cream.

The freeze-dried ice cream seems to be appropriate to kids, not astronauts in space

Despite of the graham crackers’ signature taste and texture survive in micro gravity, they can be really disastrous. Vickie Kloeris explained that the crumbs could lead to air pollution as well as get in astronauts’ eyes and breath.

Graham Crackers

Crispy chips are favorite food of astronauts in space, even many try to put tubes of Pringles into their "bonus" container. However, they are also warned not good because like space ice cream and graham crackers, chips are simply too messy to eat without dirtying the air.

Favorite Potato Chips

In space, sliced bread isn’t sliced bread because it quickly dries out and turns into a mummified, a nightmare for any astronaut. However, since 1985 when Mexican payload specialist Rodolfo Neri Vela flew aboard the space shuttle, everyone has been reaching for tortillas.

Sliced bread isn’t sliced bread in space

It is hard for astronauts if they have to consume space pizza because it is always soggy or chewy. That’s why NASA has never flown pizza into space. Only the Russian on board the Mir space station ever did but they didn’t want it twice.

Space pizza is always soggy or chewy

During the 1980s, cans of Coca-Cola and Pepsi flew in space but astronauts quickly recognized that a little gas in their stomach without gravity can turn it into a squirt gun. Besides, no one likes a warm can of cola because there is no refrigerator on board any spaceship.

Carbonated beverages become very dangerous for astronauts in space

Before shelf-stable fish products like pouched salmon and tuna recently stormed grocery stores, fish in space brought astronauts very bad smell. To overcome the weakness, a famous dish called “Fish Vera Cruz" with tomato-based sauce was created. However, no one likes it, except for the Russians.

Fish Vera Cruz

Freeze-Dried Ice Cream: One of Seven Nightmare Space Foods For Astronauts