What’s for dinner on the International Space Station

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has published a guide to eating in space, including the types of food forms available.

Astronauts have eight different types of space food:

• thermostabilized foods
• rehydratable food
• food with intermediate humidity
• natural food
• irradiated food
• frozen food
• fresh food
• refrigerated food

Two hundred miles above the Earth, gravity is extremely low. To prevent anything from floating away, the utensils are attached to magnets on the food trays.

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The food is also securely packed to prevent food from floating around the station.

Another reason for careful packaging is to avoid crumbs. NASA officials said liquids and crumbs could damage equipment on the ISS.

The list below shows a standard menu for the International Space Station.

A breakfast includes eggs, bacon, toast and coffee.

A lunch option includes fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, corn, peaches, and almonds.

A Thanksgiving-style dinner for astronauts lists turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, asparagus and squash. Astronauts celebrate the holidays with special meals. Those meals only come in bags instead of plates.

If an astronaut wants some extra seasonings, salt and pepper are available in liquid form, according to NASA.

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