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Overview

Eating aboard a spacecraft is more than just grabbing some fast-food. Biological, operational, and engineering factors play a part in the types of food that are available in a spacecraft. These factors involve the effect of the food on the astronaut, the structure of the food's container, and how manageable the food and container is, respectively. The following table lists factors that determine good space food.

Biological Factors	Engineering Factors	Operational Factors
easily digested	compact	easily disposed
nutritious	dehydrated	easily prepared
palatable	durable	lightweight
safe	lightweight	long shelf life

Analysis

Biological, operational, and engineering factors are simply categories by which space food descriptions are split. Due to the space environment and its limitations, the type of food brought into space must be carefully examined.

The health of the astronauts depends on the biological factors in food design. The food must be safe, nutritious, and palatable. It must also be easy to digest and must not cause gastroenterological or hygiene problems.

The engineering factors deal with the weight of the package and food as well as how compact they are for storage. Long voyages require large amounts of food, which must also survive the temperature, pressure, acceleration, and vibration of flight. Food must be dehydrated to make it lighter, more compact, and less likely to spoil. Vehicle mass (weight) is one of the most critical spacecraft aspects, because as weight increases, the fuel and therefore cost required increases.

The operational factors involve both the food and its packaging. The food must have a long shelf life (over 30 days), and the food and its container must be light in weight for easy use. In addition to difficulty in moving things in microgravity, the astronauts may have work to do. Therefore, food must be easy to both prepare and dispose in order to save time.

Astronauts today rely on prepackaged food, which is not very appetizing and would not be ideal for extended space missions. Plants would be a good source of food, and they could supply oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. Plants have successfully been grown in microgravity. Crops of potatoes, soybeans, lettuce, carrots, wheat, and rice may possibly be grown in space, as scientists are selectively breeding them to be smaller in size but high-yielding in order to maximize production of food in limited spaces.