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What do astronauts eat? |
Space
The very first astronauts who went up into space ate some interesting things! A lot of their food was ground up and put in tubes that looked like toothpaste! Can you imagine squeezing your lunch out like toothpaste?
Today though, astronauts have food choices that are pretty much the same ones we have. They can eat chicken, peanut butter, and candy. They can drink coffee, tea, and orange juice. A nutritionist (a person who studies how to make good food choices) carefully plans menus for astronauts in space, so that the astronauts stay healthy!
Astronauts even have an oven to cook with. Eating in space is a bit tricky though because there is no gravity! Things float! Food packages have to be attached to trays with Velcro. Drinks have to be in pouches and sucked out with straws! Salt and pepper actually come in a liquid form because if you shook salt and pepper in space, it would all just float away in the air!
Today though, astronauts have food choices that are pretty much the same ones we have. They can eat chicken, peanut butter, and candy. They can drink coffee, tea, and orange juice. A nutritionist (a person who studies how to make good food choices) carefully plans menus for astronauts in space, so that the astronauts stay healthy!
Astronauts even have an oven to cook with. Eating in space is a bit tricky though because there is no gravity! Things float! Food packages have to be attached to trays with Velcro. Drinks have to be in pouches and sucked out with straws! Salt and pepper actually come in a liquid form because if you shook salt and pepper in space, it would all just float away in the air!
Floating food!
At your next meal, imagine that you are on a space shuttle. In space, there’s no gravity! What would happen to your food and your drinks? If you’re drinking out of a cup, the beverage inside might just float away! Spoonfuls of soup or cereal would float away too!
Your plates would have trouble staying on the table, and it could get pretty messy quickly!
How does gravity help us have a nice meal on Earth?
