In space, this food should definitely not be eaten

Before leaving our atmosphere, astronauts must undergo rigorous training. The work focuses on their technical skills, physical abilities, and... their diet.

On missions to space, astronauts exclusively eat food that can be heated or rehydrated, including irradiated or cooked meat on Earth. They can also consume heat-stabilised products contained in pouches or boxes, which have been treated before packaging. As the website Ça m'intéresse indicates, these are the equivalent of military rations. Generally, their day is punctuated by three meals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Crumbs, the beginnings of great danger

One specific food, apart from fresh produce, is forbidden to astronauts: bread. To ensure the safety of spacecraft passengers, this food is banned due to the crumbs it can leave behind. Indeed, in a state of low gravity or weightlessness, bread crumbs can pose a danger to certain sensitive equipment, cause a fire, cause a breakdown, or infiltrate measuring instruments, astronauts' breathing equipment, or even air filters. In space, the risk is significant.

Fire in Space

While NASA had banned bread since the 1960s, at the beginning of space exploration, two astronauts broke the rules in 1965, during the Gemini 3 mission. John Young and Virgil Grissom caused the mission's only incident with a meat sandwich. As they ate the sandwich, crumbs scattered all over the spacecraft.

In addition to bread, salt, sweets, potato chips, certain cheeses, and soft drinks are prohibited in orbit. The same goes for alcohol as the teams' lucidity is at stake.

(MH with Raphaël Liset - Source : Ça m'intéresse - Illustration : ©Unsplash)