Retired astronaut Mike Massimino spent 18 years working and eating in space and he's opened the lid on some of the strangest facts surrounding space food.
“The way you pick out your food is you go to lunch at the food lab and they give you things to try. These are the things available over the six months and each day figure out what you want to have,” Mr Massimino told TVNZ1's Seven Sharp.
With meals having to last the full stint of a spaceman's trek, they're not always to Michelin star standards - but some dishes do get the lick of approval
“I like the lasagne, tortellini, ravioli - it needs to taste good because no one wants to eat crappy food in space,” Mr Massimino said.
One secret that's harder to digest: don't believe the hype around astronaut ice cream.
“That stuff is disgusting," he said. "I think the reason there's so much of it in museums is because astronauts won’t eat it."
To reduce prep time and stop spills, all food is freeze-dried, pre-packaged and ready to eat.
“It also has velcro so you can stick it to your leg or the wall or whatever you want to stick it to.
“If you were to get a bunch of Cheerios on a spoon without any milk they’re going be floating around - you're going to be chasing them - so that comes with a bit of dehydrated milk so the Cheerios will stay.”
Dieting among astronauts is a no, no but there's good news for keto followers: the space diet may work for you.
“We don't have bread, that's the thing we're missing," he explained. "For the amount of room it takes up it doesn't give you the nutrition you might want. It provides crumbs and goes stale.”
And stale food in space isn't just a crime against your tastebuds, it's also a health hazard.
“If you bite into it and creates crumbs, crumbs are an issue," he said. "They can float around, get in somebody’s eye. So you really want to contain it, so you don't cause issues.”
Another danger is straws, and while on land we're worried about their environmental effects, in space they pose a different threat.
“After you finish taking a drink, you’ll lock the straw. If you do not lock your straw there is the possibility of that liquid coming out of the straw,” Mr Massimino said.
“I was hit in the eye with a drop of hot coffee because one of my crew mates didn't lock their straw.”
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