Russian Space Food – Cottage Cheese with Nuts

Russian Space Food – Cottage Cheese with Nuts

Freeze dried food, such as this, has been consumed by astronauts since the early days of space flight. Space travel poses considerable challenges when it comes to eating. Space food must be light-weight, compact, stay fresh for extended periods of time and must be easy to consume in microgravity. Stray crumbs or excess liquid could spell disaster. Perhaps most importantly the food must provide the necessary calories and nutrients required by the astronauts and still be pleasant to eat.

Freeze-drying food overcomes many of these problems. The process of freeze drying involves freezing the cooked food, then placing it in a vacuum chamber. The reduction in pressure allows the frozen water present in the food to sublimate directly from a solid to a gas. The water is removed from the food, leaving the nutrients intact. The food is then vacuum packed. The end product is much lighter and can be kept at room temperature for long periods of time. Once in space, the astronauts rehydrate the food by injecting water into the package.

Web resources

• The History of Space Food