Space Food: Apollo and Skylab

In the Apollo moon program of the late 1960s, the quality and variety of space food improved greatly, especially after the first three manned flights, in which the food seemed to improve with each mission. Hot water was available for rapid reconstitution of freeze-dried foods, and the taste of the foods had improved. The astronauts carried “spoon bowls,” pressurized plastic containers that could be opened with a plastic zipper and the contents eaten with a spoon. Because it had a high moisture content, the food clung to the spoon, making eating seem closer to the earthbound experience. Peas and beans had to be served in sauce lest they escape their spoons. Irradiation of foods for the Apollo missions added more choices to the menu. A pantry stocked with more than one hundred food items (including strawberry and peanut cubes, spaghetti that could be rehydrated, salmon salad, and seventy-five drinks) helped stay the boredom of repetitious menu choices. During the Apollo program, freeze-dried ice cream was provided on one flight, but this product was abandoned because it was not at all like ice cream. Freeze-dried ice cream, however, is sold as space food in the gift shops and visitor centers of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).