On 20 February 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit the earth and the first human to eat in space. On his five-hour flight, Glenn carried a menu of freeze-dried powders and spaghetti, applesauce, and roast beef reduced to semiliquids and crammed into aluminum tubes. He also carried a variety of solid foods reduced to bite-sized cubes. Before the historic flight and its experiment in dining, some experts worried that in weightlessness food would be difficult to swallow and would collect in the throat. Glenn found that eating in space was easy—once the food reached his mouth, he had no problem swallowing. The food, however, was far from perfect. The cubes flaked into crumbs that floated around Glenn’s capsule, threatening to jam delicate equipment. Other Mercury astronauts endured the bite-sized cubes, freeze-dried powders, and toothpaste tubes, but most agreed that the foods lacked taste and texture, and they disliked squeezing the tubes.
