Astronaut Food NASA

When NASA wanted to expand on the solid foods consumed during the Mercury and Gemini programs, they looked to Pillsbury food scientists to come up with a high-energy alternative to what was then the almost universally despised standard: gelatin-covered cubes. The "Space Food Stick" eventually made its way onto the third Skylab mission, but not before it became a pop culture icon and staple of NASA and museum gift shops. The Space Food Stick is considered by many to be the forerunner of today's energy bar. Space Food Sticks TV Commercials

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The Skylab Food System The Skylab Program was a quantum leap in space dining. The goal of the Skylab food system was to balance two things: the need for rigorous scientific experiments about the effects of spaceflight on the human body, and the need to make space food appetizing. In the relative roominess of the Skylab module, food scientists were able to try out a new food tray complete with heating elements and a collapsible drink bottle. Skylab also had a refrigerator and a freezer, and stirrups to allow floating astronauts to "sit" down together for a meal. Skylab had almost all the amenities of a terrestrial kitchen, even though it was orbiting more than 200 miles above the earth. Astronaut Ice Cream Just like other space food products, some items develop a following after their life at NASA. Freeze-dried ice cream, or "Astronaut Ice Cream, " only flew in space one time aboard Apollo 7. The NASA process for making freeze-dried foods however, has been an important "spinoff" technology that has been used to create novelty "Astronaut" and camp foods for years. If you visit a science or aerospace museum just about anywhere in...