What’s usually for dinner on the International Space Station?

What do astronauts eat in space in the modern era of space exploration?

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Asked by Mike Dutton

There is a wide variety of food available on the International Space Station (ISS), representing the range of nationalities of astronauts on board.

American food usually comes in sealed pouches and Russian food, like lamb with vegetables or chicken with rice, usually comes in cans. Both the cans and pouches then need to be heated before eating. There is also a range of dehydrated foods (which need water to be added) such as Russian soups like borsch or a sweet Russian cottage cheese with nuts, called tvorog.

ISS astronauts also have a choice of drinks with their dinner, while they can add water to rehydrate drinks like coffee, tea, juice and milk. Even though the ISS is constantly experiencing microgravity, there is a table the astronauts congregate around to eat and their food has to be held down to the table using bungee cords and velcro to stop it floating around.

Answered by Josh Barker from the National Space Centre

Image courtesy of NASA

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