Apollo 16 Flown Sugar Coated Cornflakes

Apollo 16 Flown Sugar Coated Cornflakes

These sugar coated cornflakes were flown on the Apollo 16 Moon mission. It is an example of rehydratable US space food. The Apollo missions were the first-time astronauts had access to hot water, helping to make the rehydration of freeze-dried food easier. For this cereal however, cold water would be used, as it was not designed to be served hot.

Apollo space food had coloured Velcro attached, allowing it to be secured to surfaces inside the spacecraft to avoid it floating about. Three Velcro colours were used: red, white and blue - to represent the American flag. The colours were also used to denote which crew member the food was designated for. Red was for the Commander, white for the Command Module Pilot, and blue for the Lunar Module Pilot. In this case, these cornflakes have white Velcro - so they were intended for consumption by Ken Mattingly, who was making his first spaceflight.

Whirlpool Corporation were awarded the contract for making food for the Apollo missions. The company through its Space Division were able to freeze-dry food, ensuring that it retained its nutritional benefit and taste - helping to provide the necessary calorie intake for the astronauts. Freeze-drying a lot of the food on Apollo missions also removed moisture, therefore reducing weight - another benefit for space travel.

Web resources

• The History of Space Food