A visible-light image of the Andromeda Galaxy, taken by Torben Hansen.
CC Torben Hansen

Russian Space Food – Small Tin of Fried Beef

Russian Space Food – Small Tin of Fried Beef

Tins of food such as this are common meals for Russian cosmonauts. Russian space food consists largely of traditional Russian dishes such as goulash and borscht. These are usually contained in tins or tubes, whereas much of the American food is packaged in pouches. The tins can be heated through and opened with a can opener. The food is consumed directly from the tin, to keep mess to a minimum.

Space travel poses considerable challenges when it comes to eating. Food must be light-weight and 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. All this and the food must still be pleasant to eat.

More information

Object number

2000-18

Location

Artefact Store

Has this object been into space?

No

Dimension - Dimension, Value, Measurement unit

Depth: 7.5cm
Height: 3.0cm
Width: 7.5cm

Material

Tin
Paper
Beef

Object Production Date

1990s

Object Production Organisation

NPP Zvezda

Object Production Place

Russia

On Display Status

Not on display

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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.