Post #6

Post #6

Baked in Space

     It was 1965, the first Gemini mission was underway. The Gemini spacecraft was flying through low Earth orbit, and on board were astronauts Gus Grissom and John Young, and also a corned beef sandwich. Young had smuggled the forbidden sandwich on board, and the two proceeded to eat it during flight in microgravity. Quickly, the crumbs spread around the cabin. This one seemingly small trouble was actually a serious concern for NASA. The small crumbs could have gotten into equipment and thus compromised the mission. In the end nothing dire had occurred, but it was too risky for NASA.

     Since those days, bread has been banned aboard the International Space Station, and has been replaced with tortillas.  How and what astronauts eat in space has also been more closely examined, most of their food is delivered frozen, refrigerated, or thermostabilized every 90 days. 

     However, a company called "Bake In Space" is aiming to change the game. They hope to create a dough mixture and baking process that produces a crumb-free bread that is baked in space, tastes good, and leaves no mess whatsoever. Their website says "The Specimen will be the typical weekend German bread roll" which I guess means it's sourdough. 

     But they need the correct oven. And due to drawing power from the ISS, the oven must operate at only 250 watts, about 1/10th the power of a standard oven here on Earth. The goal here is to make an oven with a small volume that retains heat well. But they are also looking at Vacuum baking, which is lowering the pressure inside the sealed oven. As atmospheric pressure decreases, so does the boiling point of water. A low pressure oven could bake at lower temperatures, and also, apparently make the bread rolls more fluffy.

     "The comforts of home, like the smell of fresh baked bread, could energize astronauts physically and psychologically." claims Jennifer Levasseur of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space museum.

   The mission is planned for April 2018, and the company will test various baking methods on the ISS during the European Space Agency's Horizon mission.

     I find this stuff fascinating. I love learning things about day to day life on the ISS. Maybe because things like this are reminders that there is science behind everything about life in space, including the type of food allowed up there. 

     This topic in particular also hits close to home. Bread has been significant for thousands of years. Every culture has their own versions of it. People survive off it. It is a part of daily life for people across the world. But not in space. In space, bread is contraband.

     Living in space would be very different from living on Earth, that's kind of obvious. But I think the lack of bread would be a major culture shock for myself. I eat bread every day, and the loss would leave me feeling empty both emotionally and physically in terms of hunger. 

     In fact, as I was typing that I decided to make a PB&J on a tortilla. I was not happy. The peanut butter didn't spread correctly, the Jelly was in pools. The ratio to peanut butter, jelly, and "bread" was totally off. And if you do this at home, I advise against the use of crunchy peanut butter. This "sandwich" was more like a "sad-wich". 0 out of 10 stars. 

Those astronauts are pretty brave, talk about sacrifice. 

     But soon, the hard work of the people at Bake in Space will pay off. Astronauts will finally have their bread. Life in space will feel a little more like home. We will have to worry about smuggled corned beef no more.