Featured Image Credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo/AFP and Getty Stock
Topics: NASA, Space, Science, Food And Drink
Joe Harker
Topics: NASA, Space, Science, Food And Drink
There are currently two astronauts stuck up on the International Space Station (ISS) after the Boeing Starliner capsule encountered some technical problems.
Astronauts Barry 'Butch' Wilmore, 61, and Sunita Williams, 58, have been on board the International Space Station (ISS) since 6 June, having blasted off from Florida the day before.
They were meant to spend a week on board the ISS evaluating the space station's systems before returning on 14 June.
However, the issues with the Starliner mean they can't leave just yet as the capsule has been suffering from helium leaks and a thruster problem.
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Until the exact root cause of the problem can be determined and fixed, they're going to have to wait up there.
And let's be honest, there are far worse places to be stuck than the International Space Station.
Many people would love to go up there and likely jump at the chance to extend their stay, though for Wilmore and Williams enough might be enough by now.
Yesterday (25 July) NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Steve Stich said they didn't quite have a date in the calendar for when the two astronauts would return, but said that 'great progress' was being made.
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He said: "We don't have a major announcement today relative to a return date. We're making great progress, but we're just not quite ready to do that.
"Our focus today...is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner.
"I think we're starting to close in on those final pieces of the fight rationale to make sure we can come home safely and that's our primary focus right now.
"We’ll come home when we’re ready."
Even though the pair may have to wait a while to return to Earth, they won't be eating the other astronauts stationed on the ISS out of house and home.
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The ISS has plenty of food and is resupplied every 90 days or so with a restock of space food and some more fresh delicacies which are highly sought after by those in space.
The fresh food doesn't last very long, but the secret to space travel is having a stockpile of space food to sustain the astronauts.
Space food can last between nine months and five years before it goes off, and the food on the ISS needs to have a shelf-life of one year.
If ever we establish an outpost on another planet, then the food that goes with the crew is going to need to last for five years.
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Freeze-dried and rehydratable foods are the order of the day, though astronauts need to be careful not to spill their meals.
The first ever person in space, Yuri Gagarin, was also the first person to eat in space and squeezed a tube of beef and liver paste into his mouth for a main course before following it up with a tube of chocolate sauce for dessert.
Space food has become a little more sophisticated since then, and in 2020, astronauts even baked cookies on the ISS.