| Space Station Food System |
Space Station will become operational on a full time basis with a crew of 4. Later, the crew size will grow to a maximum of 8 people. The crew will reside in the Habitation Module (HAB). Food and other supplies will be resupplied every 90 days by exchanging the Pressurized Logistics Module (PLM).The food system for SS will be considerably different from the Shuttle food system. Since the electrical power for SS will be from solar panels, there is no extra water generated onboard. Water will be recycled from the cabin air, but that will not be enough for use in the food system. Most of the food planned for SS will be frozen, refrigerated, or thermostabilized and will not require the addition of water before consumption. Many of the beverages will be in the dehydrated form. Food will be heated to serving temperature in a microwave/forced air convection oven. One oven will be supplied for each group of 4 astronauts.The SS food system consists of 3 different supplies of food; Daily Menu, Safe Haven, and Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) food.Daily Menu. Foods chosen for the daily menu were selected based on their commonality to everyday eating, the nutritional content and their applicability to use in space. The Daily Menu food supply is based on the use of frozen, refrigerated, and ambient foods. Frozen food includes most entrees, vegetable, and dessert items. Refrigerated food includes fresh and freshtreated fruits and vegetables, extended shelf-life refrigerated foods, and dairy products. Ambient food include thermostabilized, aseptic-fill, shelf-stable natural form foods, and rehydratable beverages.Astronauts will choose 28 day flight menus approximately 120 days prelaunch. Additions, deletions, or substitutions to a standard Space Station menu will be made using a Space Station foodlist.The packaging system for the Daily Menu food is based on singleservice, disposable containers. Food items will be packaged as individual servings to facilitate inflight changes and substitutions to preselected menus. Single service containers also eliminates the need for a dishwasher. A modular concept that maintains a constant width dimension is utilized in the package design. This design permits common interface of food packages with restraint mechanisms (stowage compartments, oven, etc.) and other food system hardware such as the meal tray. Five package sizes were designed to accommodate common serving sizes of entrees, salads, soups, and dessert items. Several fresh fruits, bread, and condiments will be provided in bulk packages.The food required for a 90 day mission will be delivered to the station in the PLM. Daily menu frozen, refrigerated and ambient foods will be stowed in 14 day supply increments. The HAB galley will accommodate a 14 day food supply. Food will be transferred from the PLM to the HAB every two weeks. Unused food will be returned to the proper stowage environment in the PLM with each 14 day food transfer. Inventory control will be maintained on the unallocated food returned to the PLM for use in case the Shuttle is late in delivering the next food set.
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Meal preparation and consumption will involve a series of steps. A general meal scenario is as follows:
- Collect meal tray and utensils
- Display preselected mealon the computer
- Locate food using location display function
- Prepare food items for heating
- Place items to be heated in oven
- Enter cook control codes and press "start"
- Rehydrate beverages
- Place beverages on meal tray
- Retrieve refrigerated foods
- Place refrigerated food in meal tray
- Retrieve items from oven
- Place heated foods in meal tray
- Eat
- Place used containers in trash compactor
- Clean and stow meal tray and utensils
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Safe Haven Food. The Safe Haven food system is provided to sustain crewmembers for 22 days under emergency operating conditions resulting from an on-board failure. A goal of the system is to utilize a minimal amount of volume and weight. The Safe Haven food system is independent of the daily menu food and will provide at least 2000 calories daily per person. The Safe Haven food system will be stored at ambient temperatures which range from 60 to 85deg.F. Therefore, the food must be shelf-stable. Thermostabilized entrees and fruits, intermediate moisture foods, and dehydrated food and beverages will be used to meet the shelf-stable requirement. The shelf life of each food item will be a minimum of two years.
EVA Food. EVA food consisting of food and drink for 8 hours (500 calories of food, and 38 oz. of water) will be available for use by a crewmember during each EVA activity. EVA water and food containers will be cleaned and refilled with galley subsystems.
Food Research and Development
Foods flown on space missions are researched and developed at the Food Systems Engineering Facility (FSEF) at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The FSEF is staffed by Food Scientists, Dietitians, and Engineers who support both the Shuttle and Space Station food systems. Foods are analyzed for use on the Shuttle through nutritional analysis, sensory evaluation, freeze drying, rehydration, storage studies, packaging evaluations, and many other methods. Before any food takes flight though, it must be tested by the FSEF personnel on the NASA Zero-gravity KC-135 airplane, affectionately known as the "vomit comet" to see how the food item will react in micro-gravity. A food item is added to the menu only after it has undergone all the necessary research and development, and is approved for flight.
Astronaut menu selection. Food evaluations are conducted approximately eight to nine months before the flight. During the food evaluation sessions, the astronaut is given the opportunity to sample a variety of foods and beverages available for flight. A pack of information is given to each astronaut to use in planning their personal preference menus. Included in the packet is a standard menu, training menu, past flight menus the astronaut has chosen, and the baseline shuttle food and beverage list.
Astronauts select their menu approximately five months before flight. The menus are analyzed for nutritional content by the Shuttle Dietitian and recommendations are made to correct any nutrient deficiencies based on the Recommended Dietary Allowances. The menus are then finalized and provided to the Flight Equipment Processing Contractor (FEPC) in Houston three months before launch. The FEPC processes, packages, and stows the food in the Shuttle lockers before being transferred to KSC.
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| BASELINE SHUTTLE FOOD LIST |
Beef, Dried (IM)
Beef Goulash (T)
Beef Pattie (R)
Beef Steak (I)
Beef Stroganoff w/Noodles (R)
Beef Tips w/Mushrooms (T)
Bread (FF)
Breaktast Roll (FF)
Brownies (NF)
Candy,
- Coated Chocolates (NF)
- Coated Peanuts (NF)
- Gum (NF)
- Life Savers (NF)
Cereal,
- Bran Chex (R)
- Cornflakes (R)
- Granola (R)
- Granola w/Blueberries (R)
- Granola w/Raisins (R)
- Grits w/Butter (R)
- Oatmeal w/Brown Sugar (R)
- Oatmeal w/Raisins (R)
- Rice Krlspies (R)
| Cheddar Cheese Spread (T)
Chicken,
- Chicken ala King (T)
- Chlcken Cacciatore (T)
- Chicken Pattie (R)
- Chicken Salad Spread (T)
- Chlcken, Sweet 'n Sour (R)
- Chicken, Sweet 'n Sour (T)
- Chicken, Teriyakl (R)
- Chunky Chicken Stew (T)
Cookies,
- Butter (NF)
- Chocolate Covered (NF)
- Shortbread (NF)
Crackers,
Eggs,
- Scrambled (R)
- Mexican Scrambled (R)
- Seasoned Scrambled (R)
| Frankfurters (T)
Fruit
- Apple, Granny Smlth (FF)
- Apple, Red Delicious (FF)
- Applesauce (T)
- Apricots, Dried (IM)
- Banana (FF)
- Cocktail (T)
- Orange (FF)
- Peach Ambrosia (R)
- Peaches, Diced (T)
- Peaches, Dried (IM)
- Pears, Diced (T)
- Pears, Dried (IM)
- Pineapple (T)
- Strawberries (R)
- Trail Mlx (IM)
Granola Bar (NF)
Ham (T)
Ham Salad Spread (T)
Jelly,
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Macaroni & Cheese (R)
Meatballs in Spicy Tomato
Sauce (T)
Noodles and Chicken (R)
Nuts,
- Almonds (NF)
- Cashews (NF)
- Macadamia (NF)
- Peanuts (NF)
- Trail Mix (IM)
Peanut Butter (T)
Potatoes au Gratin (R)
Puddings,
- Banana (T)
- Butterscotch (T)
- Chocolate (T)
- Tapioca (T)
Vanilla (T)
Rice and Chlcken (R)
Rice Pilaf (R)
Salmon (T)
Sausage Pattle (R)
Shrimp Cocktail (R)
Soups,
- Chicken Consomme (R)
- Mushroom (R)
- Rice & Chlcken (R)
Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce (R)
Tortlllas (FF)
Tuna,
- Tuna (T)
- Tuna Creole (T)
- Tuna Salad Spread (T)
Turkey,
- Turkey Salad Spread (T)
- Turkey Tetrazini (R)
| Vegetables
- Asparagus (R)
- Broccoli au Gratin (R)
- Carrot Sticks (FF)
- Caullflower w/Cheese (R)
- Celery Sticks (FF)
- Green Beans & Broccoli (R)
- Gr. Beans w/Mushrooms (R)
- Italian (R)
- Spinach, Creamed (R)
- Tomatoes & Eggplant (T)
- Yogurt,
- Blueberry (T)
- Peach (T)
- Raspberry (T)
- Strawberry (T)
BEVERAGES (R)Apple Cider
Cherry Drink w/A/S
Cocoa
Coffee
- Black
- w/A/S
- w/Cream
- w/Cream & A/S
- w/Cream & Sugar
- w/Sugar
Coffee(Decaffeinated),
- Black
- w/A/S
- w/Cream
- w/Cream & A/S
- w/Cream & Sugar
- w/Sugar
| Coffee (Kona),
- Black
- w/A/S
- w/Cream
- w/Cream & A/S
- w/Cream & Sugar
- w/Sugar
Grape Drink
Grape Drink w/A/S
Grapefruit Drink
Instant Breakfast,
- Chocolate
- Strawberry
- Vanilla
Lemonade Lemonade w/A/S
Lemon-Lime Drink
Orange Drink
Orange Drink w/A/S
Orange Juice
Orange-Grapefruit Drink
Orange-Mango Drink
Orange-Pineapple Drink
Peach-Apricot Drink
Pineapple Drink
Strawberry Drink
Tea,
- Plain
- w/A/S
- w/Cream
- w/Lemon
- w/Lemon & A/S
- w/Lemon & Sugar
- wlSugar
Troplcal Punch
Tropical Punch w/A/S
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ABBREVIATIONS
(FF) - Fresh Food
(IM) - Intermediate Moisture
(I) - Irradiated
(NF) - Natural Form
(R) - Rehydratable
(T) - Thermostabilized
| CONDIMENTS
Catsup (T)
Mayonnaise (T)
Mustard (T)
Pepper (Llquid)
Salt (Llquid)
Tabasco Sauce (T)
Taco Sauce (T)
ABBREVIATIONS
A/S- Artlficial Sweetener
(R) - Rehydratable
(T) - Thermostabilized
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