How to make pizza in outer space
In early December, Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli and his fellow expedition 53 crew made pizza in space.
Recently, Nespoli mentioned during a live public event that one of the things he missed most about Earth was the pizza. As a special surprise, the ISS crew sent all of the necessary ingredients to make pizza to the space station and the astronauts filmed themselves making their individual pizza creations in zero gravity. The pizza-making was part of movie night aboard the ship.
Another of the astronauts referred to the pizzas as "flying saucers of the edible kind!" in a tweet.
Nespoli and Bresnik are members of the Expedition 53 team, a collection of astronauts aboard the space station studying things like cosmic rays, the production of fiber optic material in space, and how space affects rodents’ bodies, said Fortune.
What I found most interesting about this story is that there are rules on what can and cannot be eaten in space. Cheesecake, for example, is a no: the color and texture that most people associate with cheesecake is unable to be replicated in space, said NASA food scientist Vickie Kloeris (according to Newsweek).
When the astronauts had Thanksgiving dinner in space, they were able to choose from a set menu of over 200 items, all of which were served in pouches. Some of the foods, like turkey tetrazzini, can be made by rehydrating it with water. Although pumpkin spice wasn't an option, cherry blueberry cobbler was, which some astronauts opted to have for dessert.
This makes me wonder what snacks are available in space to astronauts. NASA actually did a blog post on this in 2015, saying that some foods, like brownies and fruit, can be eaten in their natural forms, but that others, such as macaroni and cheese or spaghetti, require adding water. And don't forget: there are no refrigerators in space ... so food but must be stored and prepared properly. It looks like peanut butter, nuts, candy, and brownies are on the list, though, which provides some variety.
Going without pizza would be tough, but it sounds like for now, NASA and Boboli have found a solution for the astronauts.
Source: Newsweek, 12/4/17, ISS: Watch NASA Astronauts make pizza for movie night in space
Newsweek, 11/23/17, What will astronauts eat in space this Thanksgiving?
