Eating in Space

Roland Piquepaille writes "What do you think astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) ate for Thanksgiving? Roasted turkey? Wrong answer. In "Orbital Thanksgiving," NASA tells us they had tortillas and gives details about food in space. If the dining view, 200 miles over the Earth, is great, preparing meals is quite a challenge. For example, there is no refrigerator or freezer aboard the Station, so food must remain good for long periods at room temperature. And you need to avoid crumbs which could float around. This is why tortillas are favored over bread. This overview contains additional references and includes a picture of a cosmonaut preparing food in the ISS galley."

Comments

No freezers?

[Mondoz]

I guess they didn't want to mention the Enhanced Gaseous Nitrogen Dewar system, which keeps samples frozen at -321 degrees Fahrenheit...
Or perhaps the ARCTIC freezer system, with 38 liters of -20C degree cold stowage...
ISS Fact Sheets

Re:Turkey?

[Yokaze]

> And what's this about "no freezer"? What exactly is outer space, if not cold?

Temperature is the mean kinetic energy of particles per volume. Space is quite empty, which keeps the temperature quite low. But, do you know what the best (heat-) insulator is? Vacuum.

What one usually calls "cold" is not something of low temperature, but something with a lower temperature and a good heat conductance. Hence, a piece of metal of room temperature is cold.
It "drains" the heat from you.

Re:in space, no one can hear farm animals scream

[Kazymyr]

Actually the current state of molecular and cell biology almost makes it possible to grow muscle cells in an organized fashion in a cell culture dish - in other words, growing steaks in the lab. It will definitely be possible to do it for real in a matter of years. Would it be economically viable? Certainly not for a while on Earth, where cheaper alternatives are plentiful - but it could be a solution to avoiding a 100% vegetarian diet on long space missions.

Re:Turkey?

[TarpaKungs]

In space, an object will lose most of it's internal kinetic energy by radiation; it emits electromagentic (EM) radiation in relation to it's absolute temperature. Normally, in warm surroundings, the EM lost is balanced by EM receieved from surrounding objects - so when equilibrium is achieved, the temprature of the object stabilises (assuming no other sources of heat energy).

But, do you know what the best (heat-) insulator is? Vacuum.

No... Conduction is one loss mechanism. There will be little conduction in space. Radiation however is a very significant mechanism too. Check your thermos flask - it's silvered as well as presenting a vacuum barrier.

In space, there is much lower background EM depending on whether you are in sight of the sun or not, so for best effect put your "freezer" out behind the ISS away from the sun and I think you'll find that stuff freezes pretty quickly.

Re:Insulator?

[deander2]

an object in a vacuum will radiate its heat, yes, but that is not why the rubber shattered.

while the vacuum pump was working, it was decreasing the air pressure in the jar. lower the air pressure, lower the temperature of the remaining air. the rubber cooler by the same principle as your air conditioner.

a vacuum is still a great insulator. (that's why my coffee mug here has a vacuum between the inner and outer shells :)