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Space Station Crew Forced to Cut Calories

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the mother-hubbard-named-new-chef dept.

gollum123 writes "CNN and others are reporting that food is running so low aboard the international space station that both the crew members have been asked to cut their calories, at least until a Russian supply ship arrives in a little over two weeks. The situation is so bad that if a Russian cargo vessel scheduled to arrive on Dec. 25 has a mishap or is significantly delayed, the astronauts, one American and one Russian, will have to abandon the station and return home months ahead of schedule. An independent team is looking into how the food inventory ended up being tracked so poorly and how it can be improved in the future."

12 of 434 comments (clear)

  1. Space McDonalds? by grazzy · · Score: 3, Funny

    .. where are they when you need them?

    1. Re:Space McDonalds? by skaffen42 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm pretty sure midnight snacking is what caused this problem. I mean, the ISS goes around the earth quite a few times every 24 hours, and the station probably experiences night every time. Now astronauts are by definition geeks, and I have never met a true geek who can keep themselves from heading to the snack cupboard at around midnight. Just think about how much snacking they end up doing and it is amazing their food supplies lasted as long as it did.

      As for McDonalds in space... no, no, no. That is how it starts. First the midnight snacking, then you start doing late night runs to McDonalds, then you have to buy the bigger space suit.

      --
      People couldn't type. We realized: Death would eventually take care of this.
  2. Christmas by pklong · · Score: 5, Funny

    "a Russian cargo vessel scheduled to arrive on Dec. 25". So they won't me missing out on the brussel sprouts this year. Poor sods :)

    --

    Philip

    Signatures are broken

  3. they have already eaten the others by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    posting anonymously due to grossness.

  4. Open sauce application here? by King_of_Prussia · · Score: 4, Funny
    IIRC, the database software that tracks the food inventories on board the space station and the space shuttle on longer flights runs on proprietary code. Perhaps if the software were revamped, and open source software used instead the community could help out a little? Many eyes make for few bugs -- and when the bugs are as easy to spot as the "food" entry reading zero I see no reason to put up with badly written, unfree software.

    Hell, with the savings made they could probably upgrade the menus a bit, instead of eating paste three times a day they could afford to buy the astronauts some hot grits or something equally tasty once in a while.

    --

    Making the moon less necessary since 1998.

  5. This has got to be one of the few jobs .... by kernelblaha · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...where finishing ahead of schedule is a bad thing!

    Maybe the astronauts jus ate too much all year so that they can be back home for Christmas turkey.

    --
    Million dollar sig.
  6. Survivor! by nacturation · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why not turn it into a new reality TV show, a la Survivor? This could easily provide a smidgen of the funding to keep the space station going. And instead of voting people off the space station, the person who loses a challenge gets eaten, so the food situation practically solves itself.

    --
    Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  7. You're making this WAY too easy by upside · · Score: 4, Funny

    Must ... resist ... comment ... about English food.

    I'm proud of myself, but the effort at self-restraint gave me a headache.

    --
    I'm sorry if I haven't offended anyone
  8. Re:Eat poop by ajs318 · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's like the British astronaut who was visiting the Mir space station and asked the resident Russian cosmonauts what they did for entertainment. "Oh, we have a bottle of vodka," said one of the Russkies. "Would you like a shot?" The Brit took a swig from the bottle. "It tastes a bit weak," he remarked, "I expected real Russian vodka to have a bit more kick!" "Well," said one of the Russians, "It's been through each of us six times already!"

    --
    Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
  9. Re:Sick joke... by b0r0din · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hey I know the Iraqi Information Minister's second cousin. I mean, he's my second cousin. And he's fucking hilarious. Get it straight, man. Stop spreading disinformation on the Internet, the one place everyone can find tons of true, undisputed facts. The one place on earth (aside from Iraq of course) I am truly at home.

    - Iraqi Information Minster

    P.S. Iraq rules, long live Saddam! America will never defeat Iraq! Baghdad will never be taken! Death to the Infidels, and...

    Shit, gotta go.

  10. Re:Great by thhamm · · Score: 3, Funny


    just change the gravitational constant of the universe!

  11. new mother's saying... by nigham · · Score: 3, Funny

    finish your food kiddo... there are hungry astronauts in space.

    --
    I don't want to read /. I want to go home and re-think my life.