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For $150-$300 Per Man,nBy M. KEVIN LEARYAssociated Press. WriterNATICK, Mass. (AP) — Compared with early spacemen, as--tronauts Michael Collins, Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin' EJ Aldrin Jr. will dine foyally inApollo 11 as they fly moonward this month.Thanks to a team of food tech-nicians arthe tT.S. ArmjTNatickLaboratories — NLABS —• the space menu has grown from rather bland and limited paste-like food, to far mere appealing edibles.Shrimp cocktail, a salad, beef pot roast, brownies, strawberryi - cubes and a lt;jup of tea might be a typical dinner for a member of the Apollo 11 team. But that Is only one of dozens of varia-tions he may choose.. Chickenand gravy, beef and vegetables, meat and spaghetti, a wide variety of sandwiches, desserts and soft drinks are also among the 52 foods approved by the National Aeronautics and ‘ Space Administration.i ' 'tSterilized, dehydrated and packaged—inplastie—vacuum-bags, much of .the food .looks like a kitchen §pon^lt;e^ But after adding watpjr the vegetables expand to look like vegetables and the beef and chicken dishes give off a home-cooked aroma.It’s not home cooking by a long shot, but it is surprisingly good tasting' And at the prices,, it should taste good. The food budget pei^daj4 for each astro-*k .'Inaut ranges from $150 to $300, with every bite custom-designed to appeal to the spacemen’s appetites.. iMary V. Klicka, a ration design specialist at NLABS, says the most important criteria in designing space food is that the astronauts eat and like, whatthey consume. - ---------• ■The Apollo 8 astronauts had a turkey dinner during their Christmastime orbit of themoon,On Apollo 11, hot dogs and other familiar dinners will be eaten with a spoon from an open package despite the zero gravidty environment.Familiar foods that are aesth-etic^llyi pleasing, says Mrs.lt;.1Do I eat ifScruSViihif?iKlicka, are an important part of developing space foods. Sha says the luxury of being able to eat with a spoon gives the astro-* nauts an extra psychological lift at meal times.But dehydrated and freeze-*dried food, compressed into bite-size squares, are the m?tin part of the space menu. Sons*) require flite addition of water, such as the shrimp cocktail, while others are ^constituted by the moisture in the astronaut’s mouth, and require no preparation.Although not as tasty and attractive as the ‘ dinners eaten with a spoon, the dried food offers the same nutritional value and extra conven-: i -ience. f■ ita * f. y,..- ■ .t.....i *V— V....._
Newspaper Details
Findlay Republican Courier
Findlay, Ohio, US
Fri, Jul 11, 1969
Page 21
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 05 Oct 2021
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