NASA's astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have been living on a diet fit for space travel. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, currently on an extended mission, have been keeping their energy up with some surprisingly luxurious meals, from shrimp cocktails to pizza. But with fresh food supplies dwindling, their nutrition plan is being closely watched by space experts.
Here’s a look at what they’re eating, and how they’re coping with the space food challenge. A Space Feast for Sunita Williams: Shrimp Cocktails, Pizza in Orbit Far from the freeze-dried meals of old, astronauts today enjoy a much more varied menu. Sunita Williams and Wilmore have been indulging in some out-of-this-world meals, including breakfast cereal, powdered milk, roast chicken, and even shrimp cocktails.
But, as specialists monitoring the Starliner mission reveal, it’s not all gourmet dining. The astronauts' food is packed with enough calories to sustain them through their mission, but fresh fruits and vegetables are hard to come by on the ISS. After all, it takes a full three months for a new supply of fresh produce to make its way to the orbiting station.
As one specialist explained to The New York Post , “There’s fresh fruit at first but as the three months continue that goes away—and their fruits and vegetables are packaged or freeze-dried." Challenge of Fresh Food in Space For Sunita Williams While astronauts are eating well, the limited supply of fresh produce means .