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Kimchi in Space

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the use-a-pencil dept.

rtknox00 writes "For astronauts spending months in space, the smallest touch of home can make a big difference. So when South Korea's first astronaut Ko San boards the International Space Station this April he'll be bringing along a hefty supply of kimchi, the national dish of his native country. While bringing a cherished food on a long journey might seem like a simple act, taking kimchi into space required millions of dollars in research and years of work." Science may never get Thorramatur in orbit.

12 of 270 comments (clear)

  1. Awesome! by jimbobborg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, it's nice that they are allowing this, however, I suspect that the smell will permeate everything in the station. Just saying.

    1. Re:Awesome! by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Funny

      Better than the smell burritos make AFTER they have been eaten.... I would hate to be aboard the first ship that stows away something from burrito king....

      --
      Monstar L
    2. Re:Awesome! by Translation+Error · · Score: 5, Funny

      Just wait until someone wants to bring his beloved durian aboard.

      --
      When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    3. Re:Awesome! by UnanimousCoward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dude, you know not of what you speak. Being an expert on vernacular-food-related flatulence:

      f(kimchi) >> f(buritto)

      --
      Twelve-and-three-quarter inches. Unyielding. This wand belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange.
    4. Re:Awesome! by g0bshiTe · · Score: 5, Funny

      You aparently never have eaten Kimchi before.
      I dated a half Korean girl, her mom used to make it all the time.
      The stuff smells like the ass of a dead dog, tastes great, but leaves you with Montezumas revenge 10x worse than Taco Hell ever thought about doing.

      Why in space?
      Because in space no one can hear your scream.

      --
      I am Bennett Haselton! I am Bennett Haselton!
    5. Re:Awesome! by stuntpope · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I recently read an article about a famous western chef who spends a lot of time in Korea, who tries to popularize Korean cuisine and use its influences in his cooking.

      He was blunt about kimchi, stating that Koreans need to stop touting kimchi as their finest example of cuisine and westerners' first introduction to Korean food. Instead, they should focus on other Korean delicacies that are more likely to be agreeable to western palettes. If kimchi is the first Korean thing westerners eat, many will stop there and won't bother trying Korean food again. I know Koreans really love their kimchi, but it really is a very different taste for Americans. Nothing like a bowl of garlic and onion kimchi for breakfast, yum... Not!

  2. mm.. by newbie56k · · Score: 5, Funny

    So thats where our tax money went... researching the fluid mechanics of kimchi in 0 g..

  3. Re:Coca-Cola by hakubi · · Score: 5, Informative

    They tried this awhile ago. You can't have carbonated beverages in a near-weightless environment because belching would result in vomiting up your food. As a result, the Coke had to be flat. Basically, it tasted really nasty and they've not tried it since that I know of.

  4. Well, I guess... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    in space no one can hear you fart.

    1. Re:Well, I guess... by catdevnull · · Score: 5, Funny

      If I had mod points, I'd promote this to +5 funny. I laughed so hard I farted myself.

      --

      I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
  5. Re:kimchi by crazyeddie740 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yes, and World War II was essentially a frank exchange of opinion.

  6. Food. What you are used to eating by sakdoctor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In my own experience, if you live in a place long enough you adapt to the food such that you feel just as weird going "back in the other direction". I remember walking around a western supermarket for the first time in years and thinking "Ok, what the hell am I supposed to eat here".

    Time to adapt for me personally; 2-3 years, and 3 years tops. After that, no craving for food that you were previously used to eating. You get totally localized.

    I guess my point is, instead of packaging food that is obviously unsuitable for the purpose (because it fucking stinks for one), why not train to live on food that is especially suitable for space flight.