In childhood, any Soviet boy dreamed of becoming an astronaut. And only one in a million had such a dream come true. One of the main barriers that stood in the way of those who wanted to conquer outer space was the most severe medical commission. Even experienced pilots were sometimes expelled from space squads only for the fact that their pressure rose or fell above (below) normal limits. The main slogan for those who continued to strive to become the conqueror of space looked and continues to look like this: Take your health to a whole new level! To reach this newest level, entire scientific systems have been developed. They concerned not only a certain set of physical activities, but also the correct "space" diet.
It was even more difficult to create a nutritional complex for those people who had already fallen into space squads and had to go to near-earth space. Whole institutes were engaged in the development of food for cosmonauts, the work of which today is difficult to overestimate. If we consider space nutrition today, then we can distinguish several of its main features. One of these features is product sublimation. This term means the transformation of a solid into a gaseous, and then again into its initial stage. This process is used not only to kill all harmful bacteria found in raw food, but also to reduce the volume of that food. After all, on a spaceship, it is important to save literally every square centimeter. And the product loses in bulk after sublimation processing, since a large percentage of excess moisture evaporates from it. This ultimately leads to a decrease in the mass of fuel that can be used to transport the space menu on board the ISS.
Since Soviet times, many have become accustomed to seeing tubes with the words "chicken cutlets" or "roast with cabbage" as space food. Today, astronauts use only sauces in tubes. All other dishes are packed mainly in plastic containers. Plastic reduces the weight of the food container, which is also used to save money. But it should be noted that special banks are often loaded on board the spacecraft. They must store food that is designed for a long stay on board.
Bread on a spaceship is a separate conversation. It is shaped like the same loaves that you can buy in a regular bakery, only the size of these loaves is about 20-25 times smaller than ordinary ones. Why spend so much time packing 100 mini loaves when you can pack 5 normal loaves instead? The answer is this: astronauts immediately put mini-loaves in their mouths and chew them thoroughly. If they were dealing with large loaves, then this would inevitably lead to the appearance of crumbs on board. But cleaning on board a spaceship is a special thing. Try to catch a few crumbs flying around the ISS compartment if the state of zero gravity throws you from side to side.
