What’s on the menu for astronauts?
Early human spaceflight was limited to things like tubed food. Astronauts on the Artemis II mission had more than 189 items to choose from to eat in flight. A lot has changed when it comes to space cuisine.
During a Mercury mission back in 1962, John Glenn was the first American to eat food in space, dining on things like pureed beef and applesauce. Now more than 60 years later, astronauts eat things like shrimp cocktails and brisket while in orbit.
Ryan Dowdy, a NASA scientist and founder and CEO at READYBAR managed the food being sent to the International Space Station from 2014 to 2021. From spicy green beans to apple cider, he said the ISS menu helped inspire the menu for the Artemis II crew as those astronauts spent 10 days on a mission around the moon and back.
“There's an enormous amount of foods that they were able to use for the Artemis mission that they literally pulled directly from the International Space Station menu that we've been running for the last 20 years,” Dowdy said. “So, they had a really great menu, and I was really excited to see that the Artemis menu included a lot of the new foods that we added to NASA's menu in the last five years.”
Dowdy explained that prior to a mission, crew members sample foods and rate them on a scale. In addition to working with nutritionists and scientists to make sure the food has enough things like vitamins and minerals, it’s important for it to taste good.
“If it's [scored] below six, it doesn't fly,” Dowdy said. “One of our sayings at NASA was, if you wouldn't feed this to your grandmother, do not try and feed it to an astronaut, because they're not going to eat it.”
During the early missions like Mercury, crew members said they disliked the tube and cube food.
“They want to eat with a knife, a fork and a spoon and they want foods that remind them of home,” Dowdy said. “That's one of the biggest driving factors for how astronauts score food is does this look and taste like real food that you would have on Earth.”
Helping the next generation of astronauts, scientists and researchers
For over four decades, the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation has awarded scholarships to students in support of STEM education.
It was established by the Mercury astronauts. Six of those astronauts and one spouse created the foundation, selecting six universities and seven scholars that each were awarded $1,000 back when the first selection was made in 1984.
With over 55 university partners, the organization aims to help students reach new heights by awarding merit-based scholarships to students in STEM fields.
Colleen Middlebrooks, the president and CEO of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, said now decades later, the foundation will have about 80 scholars in this year’s class.
Middlebrook said the name is a bit misleading, since only two scholars have become astronauts. However, she said the scholarships focuses on all things STEM. One of those two astronauts is someone who was a part of Artemis II.
“They’re you know, discovering cures for cancer and doing all sorts of other exciting things with propulsion,” Middlebrooks said. “Only two have become astronauts. But I think for us right now, the most exciting piece of that is that one of those astronauts was Christina Koch, who just came back from Artemis II. There's been a lot of celebrating and full circle sort of vibes going on around here.”
Christina Koch is a scholar from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.
In addition to the scholarship, Middlebrooks explained that there are opportunities for scholars to build connections, share their work and even seek guidance from mentorship opportunities as a scholar.
“The whole class of 2026 will meet in Houston, in August,” Middlebrooks said. “We treat them to a weekend of going to the space center out there, meeting our astronauts, presenting their research, and celebrating that they are now this new class of scholars. From there, they can be mentored through their whole life.”
Aside from Christina Koch, Middlebrooks said Artemis II was special for her and the foundation to see another scholar in mission control during the Artemis II journey.
“During Artemis II, we had girl power going around the moon, and girl power in Mission Control,” Middlebrooks said. “So, for me, that's been the coolest thing in nine months, I guess I couldn't have joined astronaut Scholarship Foundation at a better time.”
