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 "Overlord" Replies, please.

[Anonymous Coward]

"And you need to avoid crumbs which could float around."

No Homer!

They'll CLOG THE INSTRUMENTS!

Wine or beer ?

[emmanuelito]

A what about drinks ? Have the effects of alcohol in space been studied ? I volunteer ! Emm

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.