In 1965 , a chance confession by an astronaut lead to a spectacular fallout encompassing NASA , congress , and a modification to how hoi polloi are fed in blank space . John W. Young had jaunt on the Gemini III missionary station to try out engineering for moon landing , and in discussing the flight with the news program medium a few days later , he dropped a thunderclap : “ I obscure a sandwich in my spacesuit , ” he confessed .
Now , NASA historian Jennifer Ross - Nazzal hasshared her researchon this unknown and dramatic hindquarters of cosmic contraband . Astronauts are not supposed to bring any unauthorized objects onto a space military mission , as they can have unexpected effects — the sandwich , for example , could have released crumbs which could have father stuck in the delicate electronics of the spacecraft and stimulate problems .
Young decided to flout the norms and convey along a cured beef sandwich anyway , though , because the food given to spaceman at the time was , according to him , “ barely edible . ” It consist solely of dehydrate items that had to be rehydrated with cold water , resulting in strange and unappetizing edibles .
Two hour into the Gemini flying , Young make a beef of his own when he pulled the sandwich out of the pocket of his spacesuit and put up it to his commandant , Virgil I. “ Gus ” Grissom . The pair try nibbling at the sandwich but found that the rye pelf crumbled and make crumbs , so it had to be stow back in a air hole far late consumption .
And that might have been that , except for Young ’s remark at the press league . regime officials were incensed , particularly Representative George E. Shipley , and NASA was call to account .
George Mueller , who was then the associate executive for Manned Space Flight , had to answer to Congress for the illicit collation . He assured the congregational representatives that he had , “ taken stair , evidently , to forestall recurrence of corned beef sandwich in next flights . ”
Mueller also pointed out that as luck would have it no harm had come from this unauthorized snacking in delightful terms : “ There was no detriment to the observational program that was convey on , nor was there any detriment to the actual carrying out of the charge because of the uptake of the sandwich . ”
Young was n’t officially lambaste for his hugger-mugger bite , but astronauts were discourage not to pull that kind of stunt again . The incident did make it clear though just how much the quality of food matters to astronauts . When they are on space missions — especially the variety of months - long trip to the International Space Station that astronauts typically take today — the mixed bag and palatableness of food usable to them is an authoritative consideration in their genial and physical wellbeing .
As well as a wide of the mark variety of prepackaged meal , astronauts are sent supply of fresh fruits and vegetables when potential , which many name as a high spot that they greatly look frontward to . They also acquire their own nutrient likeradishes , which provides both a nutritional encouragement and a psychological boost of having grown something themselves .
It ’s also well know that astronauts love condiments , as being in space can muffle taste experiences so pass over food in hot sauce or ketchup is democratic . They might even be able to produce their own raging sauces in the future , as there are also experiments intogrowing chili common pepper on the ISS .
