1 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,440 Speaker 1: Food is really really important to humans, and not just 2 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,560 Speaker 1: as a way to keep these squishy machines of ours running. 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: Our religions have rules about the kinds of foods we 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: can eat and when we can eat them. We use 5 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,640 Speaker 1: comfort foods to relax, and we break bread with the 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: people that we hold deer. But bringing food with us 7 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: when we travel far from home to explore remote environments 8 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,880 Speaker 1: is really hard. Before we were sending astronauts to space, 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Speaker 1: humans were sailing the open seas and exploring Earth's frozen poles, 10 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,800 Speaker 1: and initially we didn't have the whole food thing figured 11 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: out really well. During the Age of Sale, which ran 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 1: from like fifteen seventy to eighteen sixty ish, a disease 13 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: called scurvy was a huge problem. We didn't really understand 14 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,120 Speaker 1: at the time that our bodies needed vitamin C and 15 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: that vitamin C came from fresh stuff like fruits and vegetables. 16 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,840 Speaker 1: I've seen reports that two million sailors died of scurvy 17 00:01:05,920 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 1: during this time, and that number seems kind of hard 18 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: to believe, but I guess it's over three hundred years 19 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: and there were loads of people sailing at the time. 20 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: But this is a horrible way to die without vitamin C. 21 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: Your connective tissues degenerate, your gums start to bleed, Your 22 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 1: teeth wobble and fall out. Wounds that it healed a 23 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: long time ago, like magically reopen and start bleeding again. 24 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: You get lethargic, you get weakness, and it's a slow, 25 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:38,319 Speaker 1: miserable death. But eventually we figured out that humans need 26 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: vitamin C, and vitamin C comes from fresh stuff. But 27 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: even when you have the right foods, it can be 28 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: hard to pack the foods right. During the Franklin Expedition, 29 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: which was a British expedition that left in eighteen forty 30 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: five to explore the Arctic, there was lead lining in 31 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: the cans that stored their food and that appears to 32 00:01:55,840 --> 00:01:58,640 Speaker 1: have given some of the crew lead poisoning. And even 33 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: when you do figure out how to pack the food 34 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: in a way that doesn't kill the crew, often the 35 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 1: food is not super tasty because shelf stable food is 36 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: just not always super delicious. So a common staple on 37 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: polar expeditions was called pemmican, and this super shelf stable 38 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:19,919 Speaker 1: food was made out of animal fat mixed with dried 39 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: meat and dried berries. And yes, it's exceptionally shelf stable, 40 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,120 Speaker 1: so nice to pack on long expeditions far from the 41 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: grocery store, but it is not exceptionally delicious. Complaints about 42 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: Pemmican include that it stops you up, which sounds rather unpleasant, 43 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: It tastes awful, and it generally leaves the consumer greasy. 44 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: So like that animal fat gets on your clothes, it 45 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,119 Speaker 1: gets in your hair, and like in an environment where 46 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: it's really hard to take a good shower, that grease 47 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: kind of builds up over time and is a very unpleasant. 48 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 1: But tasty food is so important on difficult journeys on 49 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: polar expeditions, they see special foods like holidays as a 50 00:03:01,320 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: morale boost and has ways to keep people going. The 51 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: best stuff was saved for like Christmas dinners, so that 52 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:09,080 Speaker 1: they could all look forward to that and celebrate, And 53 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: if morale was getting low, they would make up a 54 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:14,000 Speaker 1: holiday and pull out the chocolate that they had stored 55 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,919 Speaker 1: for special occasions to try to perk everybody up and 56 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: keep them going. So, as you may know, I'm really 57 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 1: interested in what life is going to be like as 58 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,839 Speaker 1: we set out to settle Mars, and so I've thought 59 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: a fair bit about what food has been like so 60 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: far in space, and what food might be like when 61 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: we finally moved to Mars. You know, how are we 62 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: going to grow it, how are we going to make it, 63 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: How are we going to make sure we have enough 64 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: and that it's delicious. But Mars is going to have 65 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: its own challenges that are unique to human history that 66 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: we haven't really experienced yet. So, for example, on polar expeditions, 67 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: when food ran low, there was often a chance that 68 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: you could kill a polar bear or a penguin or 69 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,440 Speaker 1: some fish or a turtle and you know, extend your 70 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: food supply in that way. And sadly, it was also 71 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: pretty common to kill the dogs that were pulling the 72 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: sleighs when you ran out of food, so that you 73 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: could eat them as well. But unless there are some 74 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:09,280 Speaker 1: massive surprises on Mars, there's not going to be Martian 75 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: polar bears that we can use as back up when 76 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: we get up there. So this is the first of 77 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: a two part series on food in space. First, we're 78 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: going to explore the history of food in space and 79 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: some of the challenges that had to be overcome to 80 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,120 Speaker 1: get shelf stable food to be safe and delicious for 81 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: our astronauts, and then in episode two, we're going to 82 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: take a look at the future of food in space 83 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: and what farmers might be up to when we finally 84 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 1: settle Mars. Welcome to Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe. 85 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 2: Hi. I'm Daniel. I'm a particle physicist, and I'm pretty 86 00:04:54,520 --> 00:04:56,160 Speaker 2: persnickety about what I eat. 87 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: I'm Kelly Wainer Smith. I study parasites, and I I 88 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,400 Speaker 1: love food, and if you ask me ahead of time, 89 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: I will try to not talk about the parasites that 90 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:06,559 Speaker 1: are in your food. If you take me out to dinner. 91 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:10,800 Speaker 2: All right, Kelly, We'll have a really important question for 92 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:13,719 Speaker 2: you that might shape the entire future of our friendship. 93 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 1: Oh oh, high steaks. 94 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 2: All right, it's high steaks. Yes. How do you feel 95 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,280 Speaker 2: about dark chocolate versus white chocolate? Think carefully? 96 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 3: So. 97 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: When I was a kid, I hated white chocolate, but 98 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:26,920 Speaker 1: as an adult my tastes of matured. I still prefer 99 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: dark chocolate, but I like white chocolate too. All right, 100 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 1: are we still good? Or is it over for our friendship? 101 00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 2: Now? Borderline? Borderline, you threw a bone too dark chocolate there, 102 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 2: But I will not even admit white chocolate into the 103 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,480 Speaker 2: category of chocolate. I will admit it can be tasty 104 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 2: in moments, but to me it doesn't belong in the 105 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,120 Speaker 2: same sentence as actual chocolate. 106 00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: Is it made from cocal beans or is there something 107 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:51,480 Speaker 1: about white chocolate that I don't know? 108 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 2: It's only the butter. It has no actual cocoa in it. 109 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:57,520 Speaker 1: M I mean, I don't get too worked up about 110 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 1: terminology and jargon. I just know what delicious and what's not. 111 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 1: But sure, I'll go with it, white chocolate. I'm kicking 112 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:07,040 Speaker 1: you to the curb. It's just okay. 113 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 2: And Welcome to the podcast Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe, 114 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 2: in which we talk about everything that's tasty and amazing 115 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:20,039 Speaker 2: and wonderful in this universe. We take a big bite 116 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 2: out of it and try to make it all digestible 117 00:06:21,960 --> 00:06:24,760 Speaker 2: to you. Everything from the tiniest little particles to the 118 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 2: biggest planets and the swirling galaxies of this incredible, extraordinary 119 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 2: universe delicious. 120 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: Well. On today's show, we are talking about food in space, 121 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: which I spent so much time reading about when we 122 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: were working on a city on Mars. And there are 123 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: so many fun stories about food that's gone to space 124 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: that some people love and some people hate that. I 125 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: was like, Daniel, let's start doing two part episodes because 126 00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: I have so much to say about food. And you're like, fine, 127 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:54,479 Speaker 1: I'll let you talk about food, but we like to 128 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:56,720 Speaker 1: hear what other people have to say about food too. 129 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: So you went out to the campus of uc IRVA 130 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: and accosted people with your microphone and ask them questions 131 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:05,240 Speaker 1: about food and space. 132 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:07,840 Speaker 2: That's right, I asked folks, what were the big challenges 133 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 2: to keeping astronauts fed. If you would like to contribute 134 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 2: to answers for the podcast, please write to us to 135 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 2: questions at danieland Kelly dot org. We'd love to hear 136 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,120 Speaker 2: your voice and include your answers in this segment of 137 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 2: the podcast. 138 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:24,200 Speaker 1: When you send us an email, just say hey, I 139 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: want to give you my opinion on stuff, and we'll 140 00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: send you the question that we're working on at the moment, 141 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:30,280 Speaker 1: and you'll just send us an audio file with your answer. 142 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:32,640 Speaker 2: Easy, pasy, and then you can impressed all of your 143 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,880 Speaker 2: friends by having your voice on our podcast. 144 00:07:35,080 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 3: Whop. 145 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: All right, let's hear what we came up with this week. 146 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 3: Probably getting the food up there, I would imagine, I 147 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,679 Speaker 3: think every pound of material that you bring up costs 148 00:07:43,880 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 3: an enormous amount of money. Well, I was supposed that 149 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 3: under different gravitational circumstances you need to take care of 150 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:59,160 Speaker 3: your muscles and tub bones in such a way that 151 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 3: when you get back to Earth things might feel heavier 152 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 3: and you're used to them feeling likely in most pay station, 153 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 3: for instance. Yeah, I think we can probably engineer our 154 00:08:08,880 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 3: way through it, but we just need that. I mean, 155 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 3: you have sunlight, fiber, fiber Okay, Oh. 156 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 1: That's a good line. 157 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:20,280 Speaker 2: I think I agree with fiber. Well, all right, keeping 158 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:25,560 Speaker 2: the food from not perishing like bacteria. It's world. You 159 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 2: need a lot of it and it can't go bad. 160 00:08:28,680 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: Well, can you have a fridge and space? Oh? 161 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:32,520 Speaker 3: What helps? 162 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 2: I mean, our society has gotten so good at processed 163 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 2: food that we've got tons of stuff that's like shelf 164 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:38,880 Speaker 2: stable for decades. 165 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: So that's not the issue. 166 00:08:41,320 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 2: I'm sure we'll have plenty of ways to make food. 167 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 2: We'll have to really make sure that there's good vitamins 168 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:51,839 Speaker 2: in there and fiber and so forth. But I guess 169 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 2: the real problem will be. 170 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:54,559 Speaker 3: Just the boredom. 171 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: Like it will be hard for the astronauts to live 172 00:08:56,600 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: that way for so long, and man just what they 173 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:02,680 Speaker 1: would do for a well Daniel, These were some good answers. 174 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 1: What do you think is the major challenge for keeping 175 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: astronauts fed? 176 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,800 Speaker 2: I agree with the answers that are concerned about boredom, 177 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,720 Speaker 2: because you know, food is important, so I look forward 178 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 2: to dinner. You know. Maybe that's because I only eat 179 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:15,839 Speaker 2: one meal a day, But when I sit down to 180 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:18,959 Speaker 2: eat that meal, I'm like, hmmm, I'm gonna enjoy this. 181 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 2: And so if you're working hard, you're out there in space, 182 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 2: and space is like not always that comfortable or forgiving, 183 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:26,439 Speaker 2: then you got to make sure your meals are something 184 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 2: you can enjoy. 185 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,079 Speaker 1: Well, I think our friendship's on the line again. You 186 00:09:30,160 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: eat one meal a day? Are you like my husband 187 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: who's like, oh, I forgot to have breakfast? And I'm like, 188 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: people write you and tell you how smart you are. 189 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: How did you forget to have breakfast? You only eat 190 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: at dinner? 191 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 2: No, I don't know if this makes me dumber or 192 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,400 Speaker 2: smarter than your husband, but I only eat when the 193 00:09:45,440 --> 00:09:47,319 Speaker 2: sun goes down. I'm on the vampire diet. 194 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: Why I don't understand. I love the act of chewing 195 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: on food so much I couldn't only do it after 196 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: the sun goes down. Why only after the sun goes down. 197 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:57,880 Speaker 2: It's not because I'm actually a Vampire's good, don't worry 198 00:09:57,880 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 2: about it. 199 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: Your curtain's open behind you. You'd be a guy. 200 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 2: But breakfast and lunch, I feel like the interfere with 201 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 2: the flow of the day. You know, this way, I 202 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:07,000 Speaker 2: have a whole day. The rest of humanity has to 203 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:09,760 Speaker 2: like pack food and take it with them. It's a hassle. 204 00:10:09,840 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 2: Everybody's like spending hours in the morning preparing their lunch 205 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 2: and bring it with them. Oh, it's spilled in my backpack, 206 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 2: and now I got to take a break. I just 207 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:18,079 Speaker 2: have like a nice whole day, and then at the 208 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 2: end of it, I get a meal. It's wonderful. You 209 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 2: look totally dumbfound it over there. 210 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: I don't know how to process this, but you know, 211 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:26,920 Speaker 1: I went through a similar thought process when I was younger, 212 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 1: trying to decide if I was going to learn how 213 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: to do makeup and then spend time putting it on 214 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,320 Speaker 1: every day. And I was like, well, by the time 215 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: I'm like ninety, that would have taken like one and 216 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: a half years of my life, and I just don't 217 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: think it's worth it. So I'm not going to do it, 218 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: but I just can't imagine making that same decision about food. 219 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:45,320 Speaker 2: Well, you know, eating at home is the best because 220 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:46,840 Speaker 2: then you get to prepare the food the way you 221 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 2: like it, you have all of your ingredients. This is 222 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,959 Speaker 2: one reason that like airplane food has always been terrible, right, 223 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,120 Speaker 2: because it's got to be stored and transported. Eating lunch, 224 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:56,960 Speaker 2: when you're bringing your food with you or you got 225 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 2: to find some restaurant or something, it's a big hassle 226 00:10:59,440 --> 00:11:01,280 Speaker 2: and it's never as good is something you could have 227 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 2: at home. So I try to save that up and 228 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 2: enjoy it at home. That's similar to the challenge of 229 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 2: today's episode, right, how do you prepare food, bring it 230 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 2: to space, keep it healthy, keep it fresh, keep it 231 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 2: good for the astronauts. 232 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:15,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, so actually, when we first started going to space, 233 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: it was moderately easy, so the missions were short. The 234 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: very first trip to space, when Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin went 235 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: up in nineteen sixty one, most of the cosmonauts were 236 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,880 Speaker 1: already fighter pilots and there was already food figured out 237 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,120 Speaker 1: for fighter pilots. So just like cosmonauts, they go up 238 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: there in these like pressureized suits with these awkward helmets, 239 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:35,840 Speaker 1: and there's all this stuff they need to pay attention to. 240 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:39,840 Speaker 1: So you can't be like opening up something complicated and 241 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: applying catch up. It needs to be something that you 242 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:44,439 Speaker 1: get the calories in there as fast as you can. 243 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: And so for fighter pilots, they had already figured out 244 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,359 Speaker 1: these like toothpaste shaped tubes. 245 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 2: Uh, so it was bad. You're telling me the first 246 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 2: space food was as bad as fighter pilot food, which 247 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:55,400 Speaker 2: sounds terrible. 248 00:11:55,559 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was bad. The first foods eaten in space 249 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,920 Speaker 1: were a tube of meat, maybe two tubes of meat, 250 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,760 Speaker 1: followed by a tube of chocolate for dessert, So pretty gross. 251 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 2: Was that the first food eaten by humans? Or did 252 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 2: they send up any food with a monkey or with 253 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:12,800 Speaker 2: the dog that they sent into space? 254 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:16,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, Soleika and Bilka and Stroka, those were dogs that 255 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 1: were sent up to space. They were sent up with food. 256 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:20,960 Speaker 1: I think the food was in a jelly sort of 257 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 1: thing to kind of hold everything together so that it 258 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: wouldn't float apart. So also kibbles and gelatin. 259 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,680 Speaker 2: I guarantee those dogs ate that thing up before the 260 00:12:28,679 --> 00:12:29,839 Speaker 2: thing even got off the ground. 261 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:32,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, because dogs are gross. I don't think they had 262 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: any trouble getting them to eat their food. But yeah, 263 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:38,120 Speaker 1: so you're right. First food that humans ate in space 264 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: Eureka Garon. He seemed like he was a pretty like chill, 265 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: easygoing guy. He was happy with the food, he was 266 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: happy with the flight. Life was great. The next guy 267 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: who went up, GERMANTITV, he threw up, and you know, 268 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: he was also great, but he puked. That is the 269 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: first case of a human getting space adaptation sickness. 270 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 2: Oh wait, what is space adaptation sickness? Is that just like, hey, 271 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 2: tube of food is not really food or is it 272 00:13:02,760 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 2: something to do with actually being out in space. 273 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:06,680 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's something to do with actually being out in space. 274 00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: So part of how we have our sense of balance 275 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: is that our ears have like some fluid in them 276 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: and some hairs. Based on what the fluids are doing 277 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,319 Speaker 1: to those hairs, that kind of tells us how our 278 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,160 Speaker 1: body is oriented. And you know, we just have various 279 00:13:19,200 --> 00:13:21,960 Speaker 1: ways that our body uses to figure out like where 280 00:13:21,960 --> 00:13:23,960 Speaker 1: we are and what we're doing that depend on gravity. 281 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: And so we don't actually understand space adaptation sickness super well, 282 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: but we know that when you go up in space 283 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: sometimes it turns your stomach. Some people are fine. Some 284 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: people are very much not fine, and they puke, and 285 00:13:36,679 --> 00:13:38,680 Speaker 1: some people get over it fast. Some people take a 286 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:42,079 Speaker 1: few days. On Skylab, they didn't want to admit that 287 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: one of the guys puked, and so he puked and 288 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: then he threw it away, and they tried to pretend 289 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:50,079 Speaker 1: it didn't happen, and then they got caught. They recorded 290 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: their conversation because everything in space is recorded. But anyway, 291 00:13:52,679 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: so it's a bit of a point of pride if 292 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 1: you go to space and you don't yack. But I 293 00:13:57,440 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 1: think a lot of people do yack that in on 294 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 1: the parabolic flat. 295 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 2: Well, I feel bad for Cosmo on Titav because he 296 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 2: is a first in human history. Right, he's the first 297 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 2: person to yack in space, but nobody knows his name. 298 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:10,600 Speaker 1: It's hard being second. I think buzz Aldrin was really 299 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:12,560 Speaker 1: mad that Neil Armstrong was going to go out first, 300 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: because he knew that the first person to go out, 301 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 1: you're gonna remember that person's name before you remember the 302 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:17,520 Speaker 1: second person's name. 303 00:14:17,679 --> 00:14:19,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, but Titov was the first to do something, at 304 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:22,600 Speaker 2: least right the first space. He act like that's a thing, right, 305 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:23,440 Speaker 2: that should be in the book. 306 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, but you know, not all firsts need to go 307 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: down in history, like I'm the first wienersmith because my 308 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: paperwork got processed first, but no one cares. Not all 309 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,680 Speaker 1: first needs to be celebrated. But so that things got 310 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: better pretty quick. So like those tubes, as you noted, 311 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: it's kind of gross and not like satisfying and fun 312 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: to eat pastes from a tube. And so during Gemini 313 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: and Apollo, they were going to be on there for longer, 314 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:49,400 Speaker 1: so they were trying to figure out some options that 315 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: would be more exciting. But there's a lot of problems 316 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:53,960 Speaker 1: to solve. So like, okay, if you're gonna send astronauts 317 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:56,080 Speaker 1: to the Moon, they've got enough stuff to worry about 318 00:14:56,120 --> 00:14:59,400 Speaker 1: without getting like food sickness, and so you need to 319 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: make sure that the fo to sterile and it's not 320 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:03,920 Speaker 1: going to give them food poisoning. Is they already worried about 321 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:08,760 Speaker 1: space adaptation sickness? You don't refrigerators or freezers or stoves, 322 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,640 Speaker 1: at least not on Apollo or Gemini. Iss now has 323 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,640 Speaker 1: a freezer, they got one in twenty twenty, but those 324 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: things are energetically expensive and heavy. You also need to 325 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: make the food light, so on Apollo, they freeze dried 326 00:15:21,960 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff, so essentially, you like you freeze 327 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: it and then you heat it up in a vacuum 328 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: to try to get all the water out, and now 329 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: it weighs less. And the fuel cells on Apollo produced 330 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: water as sort of a byproduct of the process where 331 00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: they were making power, and you'd use that water to 332 00:15:37,440 --> 00:15:39,880 Speaker 1: rehydrate your food. Apparently it had a little bit of 333 00:15:39,920 --> 00:15:42,640 Speaker 1: a funky taste, which is an ideal, but it saved 334 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: on mass. 335 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 2: But is it a challenge to make shelf sable food 336 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 2: that's going to be good for days or weeks. One 337 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,520 Speaker 2: of our listener comments was noting that we are pretty 338 00:15:50,560 --> 00:15:52,240 Speaker 2: good at making processed food these days. 339 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 1: Yeah, we're pretty good at making processed food, but a 340 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: lot of that processed food isn't lasgna that's good for 341 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: nine months, two weeks, so like the longest trip to 342 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: the Moon, it was like two or three weeks or something. 343 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: So we're pretty good. And actually they worked with Pillsbury 344 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: because Pillsbury makes shelf stable foods, and so they created 345 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:13,520 Speaker 1: some shelf stable foods for the Apollo program. So yeah, 346 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:14,960 Speaker 1: it's not too hard to make it for a couple 347 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 1: of weeks. When you get to the iss era and 348 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: when you start to think about Mars, it gets way 349 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: more complicated. But during the Apollo era it was pretty straightforward. 350 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: So they did a lot of this freeze drying, or 351 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: they do like what's called intermediate moisture foods, which are 352 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: essentially like Eminem's. They've got some moisture in them, but 353 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 1: there's shelf stable. So we're gonna send those man. 354 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,280 Speaker 2: Food chemists have the grossest names for things, you know, 355 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 2: intermediate moisture foods. That does not sound like something I 356 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:39,400 Speaker 2: want to eat at all. 357 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: No, you feel like you should match them up with 358 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: like chefs or something, and like everything should be named 359 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: something that could go on a menu. Well, and since 360 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,840 Speaker 1: I'm a biologist and we managed to make it almost 361 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,800 Speaker 1: fifteen minutes into the episode, it's time to talk about poop, 362 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: all right. So the Apollo and the Gemini capsules were 363 00:16:55,280 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 1: really small, Like imagine being in a van with like 364 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: two or three people and there's no cordoned off spaces 365 00:17:01,800 --> 00:17:04,560 Speaker 1: where you can get privacy, right, Yeah, And so when 366 00:17:04,600 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: you need toop, you need to just be like, turn around, guys, 367 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: here it comes. And I'm sure they can smell it 368 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 1: into small space. And so the foods they tried to 369 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:18,399 Speaker 1: make the foods quote low residue, which essentially means not 370 00:17:18,480 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: a lot of fiber. And there were actually some astronauts 371 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 1: who would try to go their whole mission without pooping. 372 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,600 Speaker 1: Pooping was not just embarrassing, but like unpleasant. So they 373 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:31,359 Speaker 1: had these little baggies with an adhesive at the top 374 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: that you would use the adhesive to stick to your heinie. 375 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:36,280 Speaker 1: Sorry about all the hand motions that you can see 376 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:37,280 Speaker 1: that no one else can save. 377 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 2: Because it sounds like you're implying that gravity is an 378 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,199 Speaker 2: important part of this human process. Yeah, yep, and so 379 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,080 Speaker 2: that it's substantially different when you're out there floating. The 380 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:48,360 Speaker 2: stuff doesn't just get squeezed out. You're saying like it's 381 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:50,040 Speaker 2: got to get pulled out, Like every time I'm sitting 382 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 2: on the toilet. You're saying, the Earth is doing a 383 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:52,919 Speaker 2: significant amount of work on me. 384 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 1: Yes, you should thank the Earth every morning or whenever, 385 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:57,640 Speaker 1: I know, we're all very regular, whatever, you should say, 386 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: thank you Earth for assisting me in this process to partnership. 387 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:02,879 Speaker 1: That's right, right, So, because things don't go in the direction, 388 00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 1: it's supposed to. There's a finger cut in the bag 389 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: to help you push things in the right direction. 390 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 2: Okay, Oh, nobody wants to see that hand gesture of 391 00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,120 Speaker 2: the I'm so. 392 00:18:12,119 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: Sorry, Daniel, I can't help it. So anyway, it's gross. 393 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,600 Speaker 1: So Frank Borman, he was supposed to spend two weeks 394 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:21,159 Speaker 1: orbiting the Earth with Jim Level, and he made it 395 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: eight days. Maybe it was nine days. He was going 396 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: to try to not poop at all, and at one point, 397 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:27,880 Speaker 1: I guess he turned to Jim Level and said, well, 398 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:29,640 Speaker 1: this is it, Jim, And Jim was like, you got 399 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,400 Speaker 1: five days left. But anyway, he couldn't make it. 400 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:34,920 Speaker 2: Well, let me ask you, as a biologist, how long 401 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 2: can the human go without producing number two and still 402 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,959 Speaker 2: be healthy? I mean, eight days does not sound healthy. 403 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: No, it does not sound healthy. I don't know. There 404 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: aren't consequences like I've heard of people passing out. I've 405 00:18:48,119 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: visited the Motor Museum in Philadelphia and got my picture 406 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: taken next to the mega colon, which was the colon 407 00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 1: from someone who just was not regular enough. But anyway, 408 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:58,919 Speaker 1: I don't know the answer exactly, but you should not 409 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: eat too many low residue foods. 410 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,560 Speaker 2: Well, according to my rapid googling, the record is forty 411 00:19:05,600 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 2: five days, but you don't get a trophy. 412 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,480 Speaker 1: They now that's another first that history is not going 413 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: to remember apparently. H So we've talked a bit about 414 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,679 Speaker 1: the kinds of foods that they came up with, so 415 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: you'd freeze dry. For the Gemini missions, all they had 416 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: to rehydrate the food was cold water, and it was 417 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:27,400 Speaker 1: considered this like huge upgrade in the Apollo mission when 418 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:29,720 Speaker 1: you could rehydrate your food and it was a little 419 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,800 Speaker 1: bit warm, and so like imagine eating rehydrated sort of 420 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:35,639 Speaker 1: lukewarm food for two weeks. Not fun. 421 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:38,159 Speaker 2: And so we're back in the sixties still, right, What 422 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 2: kind of technology do we have now that they didn't 423 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 2: have then, Like they had microwaves in the sixties. 424 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: I don't know if they had microwaves in the sixties, 425 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: but I don't think they have microwaves on the ISS 426 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: now even I think they use like a little convection 427 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,640 Speaker 1: oven that heats things up, but not even that much. 428 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:59,199 Speaker 1: And then they also have another hot water nozzle to 429 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:03,640 Speaker 1: rehydrate their food. Because these freeze dried foods are still 430 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: going to space. 431 00:20:04,520 --> 00:20:06,200 Speaker 2: Well, I guess that makes sense. If you're pulling most 432 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 2: of the water out of this, then a microwave is 433 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 2: not going to work on it, because a microwave mostly 434 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:11,920 Speaker 2: heats the water in the food because the resonance of 435 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:15,199 Speaker 2: those electromagnetic waves excites the water molecules. So if you 436 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 2: put something dry into a microwave, it doesn't really get 437 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 2: heated up very effectively. Microwaves were invented in the sixties. 438 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 2: I think they were commercially available in the mid sixties. 439 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 2: But then it doesn't make sense to include them in 440 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 2: space anyway. 441 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:29,679 Speaker 1: Good time for humanity. I like microwaves. One of the 442 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 1: other things that they had were these cubes that were 443 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:34,520 Speaker 1: like covered in like an oil. So you don't want 444 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,679 Speaker 1: crumbs in space. You know, everything floats when you're in space, 445 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: and so if you've got crumbs, they can like get 446 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: into the electrical equipment and they can cause shorts. And 447 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:45,679 Speaker 1: John Young got into a ton of trouble because he 448 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,000 Speaker 1: snuck a corn beef sandwich onto one of his flights. 449 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 2: How do you sneak a corn beef sandwich? Like, do 450 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 2: I want to ask where he was hiding it. 451 00:20:53,960 --> 00:20:56,399 Speaker 1: I don't know where he snuck his in particular, but 452 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:59,359 Speaker 1: I do know that a board mirror. The cosmouts have 453 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: a tradition where when they're on their way out for launch, 454 00:21:03,040 --> 00:21:05,240 Speaker 1: they get out of the van that's bringing them to 455 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 1: bike a ore where the rockets are going to take off, 456 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: and they pee on the tire. Because that's what ury 457 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: Gagaron did because it was like his last chance to 458 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: like take off the spacesuit. And so that is supposed 459 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:17,880 Speaker 1: to be a time when people sort of squirrel away 460 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: items that they're maybe not supposed to have, but they 461 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: want to take on anyway. So little bottles of liquor 462 00:21:22,880 --> 00:21:25,960 Speaker 1: have been brought on to the International Space Station by 463 00:21:25,960 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: storing them in your spacesuit when you like go out 464 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: to take your pee. 465 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:33,440 Speaker 2: Somebody slip to a corny I don't understand how this works. 466 00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: I don't know either. He got in a lot of trouble, 467 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: Like literally there was a congressional hearing because if the 468 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 1: crumbs from his sandwich had messed up that mission. Can 469 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,199 Speaker 1: you imagine how much taxpayer money would have been flushed 470 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: down the toilet. 471 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 2: The most expensive corn beef sandwich in. 472 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:50,879 Speaker 1: History exactly, yes, right right, And this was part of 473 00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:52,600 Speaker 1: the Cold War. Can you imagine if we had lost 474 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:56,040 Speaker 1: the Cold War over a corn beef sandwich. Anyway, Steaks 475 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: were high. 476 00:21:58,080 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 2: Steaks were high. 477 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 1: Now, Oh, I did all that was so great and 478 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: I didn't even know I was doing it. 479 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,800 Speaker 2: Literally, corn beef sandwich in space is stas or high. 480 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,399 Speaker 2: That pun works in so many levels. 481 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: I'm so clever and I don't even know it. All right, 482 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: But you know what, So I think we should leave 483 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: the audience on tender hooks for a second. We are 484 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:18,200 Speaker 1: going to do a little bit of myth busting about 485 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: food and space when we get back from the commercials. 486 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,119 Speaker 2: So finish that corn beef sandwich, everybody. You are going 487 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:26,439 Speaker 2: to launch into a new era of understanding. 488 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: Amazing, all right, So, Daniel, how many times do you 489 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:50,159 Speaker 1: think that freeze dried astronaut ice cream that gets sold 490 00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: at all of the air and space museums. How many 491 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: times has that gone to space? 492 00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:56,720 Speaker 2: Oh? Man? I mean, I imagine you want to send 493 00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 2: something yummy with the astronauts, and you want to send 494 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 2: something light. I don't know why you wouldn't send it 495 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 2: every single time. I'm gonna guess every single time they 496 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 2: go to space they get ice cream. They deserve it. 497 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,080 Speaker 1: I think you're probably playing along with me. But that's great. 498 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: I love it. It's never gone to space. No, I'm 499 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: in one. It's awful, like only not smart children, but 500 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,000 Speaker 1: it Have you ever opened up those bags? Like it's 501 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:23,520 Speaker 1: all little particles that sort of go floating out and 502 00:23:23,560 --> 00:23:25,920 Speaker 1: make a giant mess. I mean, like even in gravity, 503 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:27,520 Speaker 1: those things make a gigantic mess. 504 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:30,400 Speaker 2: I loved astronaut ice cream. I can't believe you're down 505 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:32,520 Speaker 2: on it. Every time we went to the planetarium or whatever, 506 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:35,240 Speaker 2: I got astronaut ice cream. It was such a treat 507 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,880 Speaker 2: and like, okay, it's not as good as real ice cream, 508 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,159 Speaker 2: but it made me feel like an astronaut. 509 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,160 Speaker 1: I did not realize how much conflicts this food episode 510 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: was going to cause between the two of us. I 511 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,399 Speaker 1: hate that stuff, but fine, good for you. A dairy 512 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:55,679 Speaker 1: based food cube has flown. Oh but not this freeze 513 00:23:55,720 --> 00:23:56,680 Speaker 1: dried ice cream. 514 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,320 Speaker 2: So what's the origin of it? Is it just all marketing? 515 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:00,560 Speaker 1: Yeah? Worked on you. 516 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 2: It actually did work. I mean not only did I 517 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:05,520 Speaker 2: buy it, but I enjoyed it more because I believed 518 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,440 Speaker 2: it had been in space. So yeah, it absolutely worked. 519 00:24:09,119 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 1: All right, Well, great, there's a market for everything, all right? 520 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:13,640 Speaker 2: All right, Well, what about tang. Are you gonna tell 521 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,040 Speaker 2: me the tang was never enjoyed by astronauts? 522 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,080 Speaker 1: Well, I mean maybe it was enjoyed by astronauts, but 523 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,720 Speaker 1: it wasn't made for astronauts. Often when I'm giving talks 524 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:23,960 Speaker 1: about space and I go into my like negative Nelly 525 00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:25,840 Speaker 1: speech about you know, people say we should go to 526 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: space for this reason, but that's a bad reason. People 527 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:29,959 Speaker 1: will always say, but like, oh, but what about all 528 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 1: the spinoff technologies, like we wouldn't have tang if it 529 00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: wasn't for space. I can't tell you how many times 530 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:35,840 Speaker 1: I've heard this. 531 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,880 Speaker 2: That's their go to, not like velcro, tephlin, no minaturization 532 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:41,320 Speaker 2: or anything teflon. 533 00:24:41,480 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: He I think, has you know, captured the popular. 534 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:45,760 Speaker 2: Consciousness the power of marketing? 535 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,360 Speaker 1: Yes? Amen. So Tang was made by a food scientist 536 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,600 Speaker 1: named William Mitchell. Everybody should know this guy's name if 537 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: you grew up in the nineties. So he also came 538 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,399 Speaker 1: up with cool whip, which was like a staple in 539 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: my house in the nineties, which like instant nostalgia there 540 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:05,520 Speaker 1: they still exist somehow, and instant jello. 541 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:08,400 Speaker 2: Wow, this guy should get the Nobel Prize. 542 00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:10,639 Speaker 1: For Food Science, or he should get punished in some 543 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 1: way because like adult Kelly dislikes all of those food items. 544 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:15,800 Speaker 1: But anyway, I mentioned that they get their water from 545 00:25:15,800 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 1: those fuel cells and they have a kind of like, uh, 546 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: not great taste. So tang was a like easy way 547 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:23,920 Speaker 1: you could get the packets and sort of hook them 548 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:26,159 Speaker 1: up to the waterline or whatever and then mix it 549 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:27,960 Speaker 1: up and then it would kind of cover up the 550 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: taste from the fuel cells. And some of the astronauts 551 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 1: loved it, some of them hated it. In fact, buzz Aldron, 552 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: in a nineteen eighty eight interview on NPR said tang sucks. 553 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:42,879 Speaker 1: If you go to some bars, you can get a 554 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:45,560 Speaker 1: drink called the buzz Aldron that has tang in it. 555 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:47,159 Speaker 1: And I don't know if that was meant as like 556 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:48,359 Speaker 1: an insult to buzz or what. 557 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:51,119 Speaker 2: So you're saying tang was popular among astronauts because it 558 00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 2: tasted better than like machine water. 559 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,520 Speaker 1: Yes, and even then not all of them liked it. 560 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 1: But again, I loved tang when I was a kid too. 561 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,679 Speaker 2: All right, but this is not really food for space, right, 562 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:05,160 Speaker 2: this is food connected to space through the genius of marketing. 563 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 2: Let's get back to talking about how we actually feed 564 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:10,840 Speaker 2: astronauts in space. You took us through the sixties and 565 00:26:10,880 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 2: seventies when it was basically like an extended version of 566 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,240 Speaker 2: fighter pilot goo. What about like in the seventies and eighties, 567 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 2: when we started spending more time in space, what did 568 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 2: the food industry wizards whip up for those astronauts. 569 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:24,399 Speaker 1: Well, so the seventies and the eighties is when we 570 00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:27,560 Speaker 1: started sending up space stations and people were staying up 571 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: there for weeks and then months, and now we're up 572 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:32,199 Speaker 1: to years or I think the longest day was four 573 00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty seven days. They don't have to bring 574 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 1: all of the food with them at once. There's resupply 575 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,399 Speaker 1: ships that can come, and when those resupply ships come, 576 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:43,720 Speaker 1: they bring fresh food, and it's like hugely popular. But 577 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:47,080 Speaker 1: we're still doing freeze dried foods. We're still doing intermediate 578 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: moisture foods. But there's just like a lot more options now. 579 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,359 Speaker 1: So on the International Space Station, and this is jumping 580 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 1: ahead in time a bit. There's over two hundred options 581 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,479 Speaker 1: now and so a lot of them, Like on the 582 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:01,760 Speaker 1: cosmonaut side, it's like cans of jelly fish. On the 583 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:04,919 Speaker 1: US side, Oh, there's a shrimp cocktail I think is 584 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:08,040 Speaker 1: very popular. I'm not personally a shrimp person myself. Any 585 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,440 Speaker 1: animal that you need to deepoop before you eat it 586 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: is not on my plate personally. 587 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:14,200 Speaker 2: Also, I try it to eat shrimp and others shell 588 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 2: foods if some very far from the shore. And I 589 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,240 Speaker 2: feel like up in space definitely qualifies as like really 590 00:27:20,280 --> 00:27:20,720 Speaker 2: not near. 591 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,640 Speaker 1: Yeah, not near it at all. Agreed. Agreed. So when 592 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: the US sent up Skylub in nineteen seventy three, that 593 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: was like maybe the height of dining in space. So 594 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:36,000 Speaker 1: they sent up a freezer and a fridge, and I 595 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:39,160 Speaker 1: think that we have a fridge, but not a freezer 596 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: on the ISS, although maybe we have a fridge for 597 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:43,480 Speaker 1: like scientific supplies. And I've heard that every once in 598 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: a while food ends up in the science freezers on 599 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 1: the ISS, which is a big no no on Earth. 600 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:50,560 Speaker 1: But you know, you do what you got to do 601 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: in space. 602 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:53,280 Speaker 2: You know. In my house, like at home, my wife 603 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:56,439 Speaker 2: is a biologist, so of course we have science stuff 604 00:27:56,440 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 2: in our freezer, including unmentionables from various members to the family. 605 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,359 Speaker 2: So she's like, don't open those brown paper bags unless 606 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:05,640 Speaker 2: you really want to see something you don't want to see. 607 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:07,840 Speaker 1: Oh, man, I know I. 608 00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:10,200 Speaker 2: Keep objecting to that. I'm like, look at in your lab. 609 00:28:10,280 --> 00:28:12,680 Speaker 2: You have a food freezer and a science freezer. Why 610 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 2: can't we just make this a food freezer. 611 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: Oh I cannot wait to tell that to my husband 612 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:20,359 Speaker 1: because he's always like, you have infected fish brains in 613 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 1: our freezer? Or what is this dead bird doing in 614 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,240 Speaker 1: the freezer? But we've never had bags of feces in 615 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: our freezer. And I feel like Zach doesn't appreciate me 616 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:32,919 Speaker 1: as much as he should. But you know what I 617 00:28:32,920 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: thought was fun on the cosmonauts of boards Salute one, 618 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: which was the first base station to ever go up. 619 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:43,920 Speaker 1: Apparently they had first breakfast, second breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 620 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:48,160 Speaker 1: So you would say, they're wasting three meals worth of time, guys, 621 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 1: Whereas I like them even more knowing this, Although it 622 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:54,760 Speaker 1: didn't the Lord of the Rings. Didn't the Hobbits have 623 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:57,160 Speaker 1: first breakfast and second breakfast anyway? 624 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:00,280 Speaker 2: Yeah, very likely, And Hommits are not famous Lord of 625 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 2: the Rings for being like very effective or getting stuff done. 626 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:06,400 Speaker 2: You know, they spent most of their time cooking meals 627 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 2: and cleaning up after meals. It was a whole day, 628 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,600 Speaker 2: you know, first breakfast, second breakfast eleven z's like two z's. 629 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:14,720 Speaker 1: I mean, that was kind of the point they save 630 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: the world, you monster, Ah, a lot. 631 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 2: Of people died before they saved the world. If they 632 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 2: just skipped breakfast, you know, they could have saved a 633 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 2: whole lot of people from the agony. 634 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,240 Speaker 1: Maybe they wouldn't have had enough energy, Daniel, I'm getting 635 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:31,000 Speaker 1: choked up just thinking about it. My voice caught. So 636 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: I was reading, you know a lot of stories about 637 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:36,280 Speaker 1: what cosmonauts in space have been eating over the years, 638 00:29:36,320 --> 00:29:38,640 Speaker 1: and one of the things they really love for fresh 639 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 1: food that I read over and over again is onions. 640 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:45,200 Speaker 1: And in fact, the first birthday in space, it was 641 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: Victor Pitsev's thirty eighth birthday aboard Salute one. They celebrated 642 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: with an onion and a lemon that had been smuggled 643 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,400 Speaker 1: on board for that particular occasion, and they all like 644 00:29:54,440 --> 00:29:57,360 Speaker 1: bit into it and we're particularly excited about it, like. 645 00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:58,640 Speaker 2: A raw, fresh onion. 646 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,000 Speaker 1: As far as I can tell, that's what happened. 647 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,520 Speaker 2: Man, Your standards must really plummet if you spend a 648 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:05,160 Speaker 2: little bit of time in space, if you're like an 649 00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:06,040 Speaker 2: onion is a. 650 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: Delicacy, or if you live in the Soviet Union, and 651 00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: things were I think it was even worse in the nineties. 652 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: But I don't think things were great then, but I 653 00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: guess then it was Russia. 654 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:16,960 Speaker 2: But it sounds like there's a big step up from 655 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:19,560 Speaker 2: the sixties to the seventies when we have like space 656 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:22,480 Speaker 2: stations and now we have options and different kinds of 657 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:25,280 Speaker 2: food and all sorts of stuff. What exactly was it 658 00:30:25,320 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 2: that enabled that? Was it the freezers and the heaters 659 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:30,200 Speaker 2: on board, or is just having more time and space 660 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 2: meant people had to devote more energy to making the 661 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:34,760 Speaker 2: food actually good for the astronauts. 662 00:30:34,880 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 1: Yeah. I think if you're going to have a program 663 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:37,840 Speaker 1: where people are going to be up there for months, 664 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: then you're just kind of forced to do better and 665 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,160 Speaker 1: you're forced to make sure that your foods last longer. 666 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,400 Speaker 1: And they experimented with refrigerators and the trade offs between 667 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: how much energy and space they take, and so yeah, 668 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:51,040 Speaker 1: I think it was just the need to make things 669 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 1: last longer. So, like we start using the Space Shuttle 670 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:56,920 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty one, it sticks around for like twenty 671 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:01,240 Speaker 1: thirty something years, but those missions like two to three weeks, 672 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:04,840 Speaker 1: and so they sometimes used military meals that were called 673 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,040 Speaker 1: MREs or meals ready to eat, and so it's like, well, 674 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: why reinvent the wheel if we've got something that can 675 00:31:11,200 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: already work. So if you're only going up for a 676 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,080 Speaker 1: couple weeks, you don't have to be fancy. Although those 677 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:18,600 Speaker 1: MRIs were apparently awful. I talked to someone who said 678 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:24,680 Speaker 1: that they're known as meals rarely edible or meals requiring 679 00:31:24,880 --> 00:31:28,640 Speaker 1: enemas because of their low fiber content. So here we 680 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:29,160 Speaker 1: are again. 681 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:31,440 Speaker 2: But if you're going to be up there in space 682 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,160 Speaker 2: for a long time, can't you grow some food? I mean, 683 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:36,840 Speaker 2: if we have like a basically a permanent space colony, 684 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:38,959 Speaker 2: we have a space station, it's up there all the time, 685 00:31:39,520 --> 00:31:41,640 Speaker 2: is it feasible to have a little bit of a 686 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:43,280 Speaker 2: garden and grow some fresh food? 687 00:31:43,440 --> 00:31:45,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, And there have been some experiments. I think there's 688 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:47,560 Speaker 1: an experiment called veggie, and I can't remember if that's 689 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: like a tortured acronym of some sort or they just 690 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:51,960 Speaker 1: decided to call it veggie. But so, like, one of 691 00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: the problems with growing food in space is that, like 692 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,080 Speaker 1: water tends to form like bubbles, and because of surface tension, 693 00:31:58,080 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: it kind of sticks together, and so when you're trying 694 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: to get roots that grow out to like have a 695 00:32:04,520 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: lot of surface area connections between the waters and the 696 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: nutrients and stuff, it can be hard because the water 697 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 1: tends to sort of like ball up in one spot 698 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,880 Speaker 1: and it's not necessarily interacting with the roots the way 699 00:32:15,920 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: you want it to. And so they've had to figure 700 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: out some various ways to like you know, get the lighting, 701 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:22,959 Speaker 1: get the water, get the nutrients. But they have been 702 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,480 Speaker 1: able to grow food in space. To go back to 703 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:27,840 Speaker 1: the onions on Solute six, there was an experiment with 704 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:30,600 Speaker 1: onions that they were supposed to do, and the cosmonauts 705 00:32:30,640 --> 00:32:32,760 Speaker 1: pretended the onions got lost so that they could eat 706 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:36,880 Speaker 1: them themselves, so they ate them. But we've grown I think, 707 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:42,520 Speaker 1: like mustard greens, maybe kale mazuka. There have been greens 708 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,160 Speaker 1: that have been grown in space and consumed in space, 709 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:47,920 Speaker 1: and apparently the act of growing these plants is like 710 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:52,200 Speaker 1: a huge mental health improvement for the people who tend them, 711 00:32:52,280 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 1: like I guess they you know, being near living things. 712 00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:57,520 Speaker 1: As a biologist, this isn't surprising to me, but being 713 00:32:57,560 --> 00:33:00,320 Speaker 1: near living things is just like really great for mental health. 714 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,960 Speaker 1: But the shuttle is when we got some pretty cool 715 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:06,120 Speaker 1: food advances. So the Shuttle is the first time. So, 716 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: like I love carbs, you probably don't even eat carbs 717 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:10,240 Speaker 1: for whatever. 718 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 2: No, No, I love carbs. I'm pro carb, one hundred 719 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:13,600 Speaker 2: percent pro. 720 00:33:13,600 --> 00:33:15,520 Speaker 1: Cos I'm glad we're finding some common ground we can 721 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: agree on. Bread has a bunch of crumbs, and crumbs 722 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 1: are a problem. 723 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:20,720 Speaker 2: Crumbs are not a problem for me. 724 00:33:20,880 --> 00:33:23,760 Speaker 1: I love crumbs, but you wouldn't want them in your equipment. 725 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 2: No. This is one reason why I'm not a fighter 726 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:29,280 Speaker 2: pilot or an astronaut, because I'm pro crumb. 727 00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:31,640 Speaker 1: Okay, So there was a shuttle flight where we had 728 00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:36,560 Speaker 1: the first Mexican astronaut. This was payload specialist Rudolpha Vella, 729 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:39,160 Speaker 1: and he was up there with astronaut Mary Cleeve, and 730 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: they had suggested, what if you bring tortillas up because 731 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:47,920 Speaker 1: tortillas are like edible plates that don't have a lot 732 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:52,200 Speaker 1: of crumbs. And after that point, tortillas are like a 733 00:33:52,240 --> 00:33:54,800 Speaker 1: staple in space now like almost everything is eaten on 734 00:33:54,840 --> 00:33:56,920 Speaker 1: top of a tortilla in space. And for a while 735 00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:02,320 Speaker 1: they were using Taco Bell tortillas because Tago Bell makes 736 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:06,600 Speaker 1: tortillas that are shelf stable for nine months knowing it's 737 00:34:06,640 --> 00:34:08,600 Speaker 1: shelf stable that long, you're like, oh, it's not food, 738 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:10,200 Speaker 1: is it? What is that? Actually? 739 00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,279 Speaker 2: No, the food science is probably a name for it. 740 00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,319 Speaker 2: You know, it's like a flattened circular food product or whatever. 741 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,760 Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, But the Russians they're not so into tortillas. Instead, 742 00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 1: they've made these tiny, little bite sized breads that don't 743 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:24,920 Speaker 1: shed a lot of crumbs. And I guess they're so 744 00:34:25,080 --> 00:34:28,240 Speaker 1: tiny that they're called Barbie breads because you can imagine 745 00:34:28,280 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: like a little Barbie using one in her little dream house. 746 00:34:32,200 --> 00:34:33,960 Speaker 1: But you know, one of the interesting things about space 747 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: is that, like, okay, so we've talked about all these 748 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,319 Speaker 1: freeze dried foods and foods in cans that frankly don't 749 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,560 Speaker 1: sound particularly delicious to me. But it seems, for reasons 750 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:45,480 Speaker 1: we don't totally understand, to be hard to actually taste 751 00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:49,319 Speaker 1: things in space. And there's a couple different explanations for this, 752 00:34:49,400 --> 00:34:53,120 Speaker 1: but astronauts regularly complain that like food is way less flavorful. 753 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:55,640 Speaker 1: One of the ideas is that you're up in space, 754 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:58,840 Speaker 1: you're in free fall, your fluids are sort of moving 755 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:03,200 Speaker 1: up towards your head, and if you've ever been congested 756 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:05,799 Speaker 1: or had like a sinus infection, and that it's all congested, 757 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 1: maybe you notice that food tastes less flavorful at that point. So, 758 00:35:09,719 --> 00:35:12,720 Speaker 1: like a lot of flavor isn't just about our taste buds. 759 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:15,000 Speaker 1: It's about the act of like smelling the food that 760 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,879 Speaker 1: we're eating also, So if you're all like congested, you're 761 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,719 Speaker 1: losing the smell parts that brings us such joy when 762 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:22,640 Speaker 1: we eat. But then another idea is that like a 763 00:35:22,640 --> 00:35:24,080 Speaker 1: lot of that food is like in a bag that 764 00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:27,400 Speaker 1: you added water to, so you can't really smell it anyway, right, 765 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 1: because you're just like drinking it through a straw at 766 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:33,279 Speaker 1: the beginning. So they don't really know why food tastes 767 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: less flavorful, but many astronauts report. 768 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:38,319 Speaker 2: This seems like they should invent something where there's like 769 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:40,440 Speaker 2: a tube that goes to your mouth and another one 770 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:42,440 Speaker 2: that goes to your nose so you can like simultaneously 771 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 2: smell it and eat. It seems like the kind of 772 00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:46,480 Speaker 2: thing NASA would come up with, right, come on, engineers, 773 00:35:46,520 --> 00:35:47,200 Speaker 2: get with the programs. 774 00:35:47,239 --> 00:35:50,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, they're not working on the important questions, are they. No. 775 00:35:50,520 --> 00:35:52,320 Speaker 1: I was at a restaurant once and I was watching 776 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,759 Speaker 1: a woman she was like talking to someone, and she 777 00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:57,879 Speaker 1: went to bring her cup with a straw in it 778 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:00,160 Speaker 1: up to her mouth, but she wasn't paying attention to 779 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:02,239 Speaker 1: the straw went up her nose and like shoved her 780 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,480 Speaker 1: head back, and then she looked around to see if 781 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:06,799 Speaker 1: anyone had seen, and then she saw I was kind 782 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:08,040 Speaker 1: of chuckling, and I was like. 783 00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,000 Speaker 2: Maybe it's okay, You're like, don't worry. I'm a biologist. 784 00:36:11,040 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 2: I'm just observing you. 785 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. So I'm not sure that I 786 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:16,120 Speaker 1: would want a straw in my nose, I guess, is 787 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:19,280 Speaker 1: what I'm saying. It's a weird, awkward, embarrassing situation. 788 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:22,640 Speaker 2: Well, I wouldn't want to eat cardboard for every single meal. 789 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:25,320 Speaker 2: I mean, I think if you're not tasting your food, 790 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:26,880 Speaker 2: then like why are you even eating it? 791 00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:28,759 Speaker 1: So they try to get around this, like they've had 792 00:36:28,840 --> 00:36:33,200 Speaker 1: celebrity chefs create extra flavorful meals, and then things like 793 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,439 Speaker 1: taco sauce packets are so popular that on one flight 794 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,480 Speaker 1: they were actually like used as currency. So you'd be like, 795 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: all right, I don't want to clean the toilets today, 796 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,080 Speaker 1: so I will pay you three taco sauce packets if 797 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:47,000 Speaker 1: you clean the toilet. 798 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 2: This like a prison economy. Just see what life is 799 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:52,120 Speaker 2: like up there. You know, it's like I'm trading like 800 00:36:52,280 --> 00:36:54,600 Speaker 2: two packets of cigarettes and a minute on the fatone. 801 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 2: You know this is crazy. 802 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:58,240 Speaker 1: Well, and the bar is so low. Like Shannon Lucid, 803 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:00,640 Speaker 1: so she was on Mirror, which was a Soviet Russian 804 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:03,040 Speaker 1: space station. She lost a shoe once and she couldn't 805 00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:05,520 Speaker 1: find it, like space stations are notoriously cluttered and hard 806 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:08,080 Speaker 1: to find things, So she offered the guy on the 807 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:10,440 Speaker 1: mission that she was on. There were two guys, and 808 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,160 Speaker 1: she said, all right, whoever finds my shoe, you get 809 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:18,880 Speaker 1: your own bag of green jello. And immediately both of 810 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,080 Speaker 1: the guys were like, we gotta find it. One of 811 00:37:21,080 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: them found it. He got his own bag of green jello, 812 00:37:23,280 --> 00:37:25,480 Speaker 1: and they had a fridge on Mirror so that he 813 00:37:25,600 --> 00:37:27,960 Speaker 1: was able to like have it for himself. But apparently, 814 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 1: like the jello was a big bonding experience and so 815 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:34,200 Speaker 1: like they would make jello, like every Friday, they'd all 816 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:36,600 Speaker 1: get spoons. They'd share it together. So Jello's like a 817 00:37:36,600 --> 00:37:38,879 Speaker 1: good space food because it sticks and stays in the bag, 818 00:37:39,040 --> 00:37:41,239 Speaker 1: so you can just like spoon it out, and a 819 00:37:41,280 --> 00:37:45,520 Speaker 1: lot of astronauts will report that actually having meals together 820 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:48,120 Speaker 1: and sharing food is like one of the most impactful 821 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:51,719 Speaker 1: experiences they had. Like Leland Melvin has a book about 822 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:54,560 Speaker 1: being an astronaut, and he talks about how, you know, 823 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:56,600 Speaker 1: all these people from all these different countries were like 824 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,080 Speaker 1: sitting around a table. Some were floating above it, some 825 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:01,680 Speaker 1: were floating below, but they were all sharing a meal 826 00:38:01,719 --> 00:38:03,360 Speaker 1: together looking down at Earth, and it was just like 827 00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:06,239 Speaker 1: profound experience. So, yeah, food is so much more than 828 00:38:06,320 --> 00:38:09,279 Speaker 1: just a way to keep these wishy meat bags moving on. 829 00:38:09,480 --> 00:38:13,040 Speaker 2: It must really be an ancient thing sharing food, because frankly, 830 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,200 Speaker 2: I find it biologically weird that we sit around and 831 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:18,880 Speaker 2: have conversation at the same time as we're using our 832 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:21,880 Speaker 2: mouths for something else. Right, It's awkward. I'm sitting there, 833 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:24,239 Speaker 2: I'm eating, I'm also supposed to be talking, you know, 834 00:38:24,400 --> 00:38:26,360 Speaker 2: Like the whole thing is kind of weird. It's some 835 00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:30,240 Speaker 2: like bizarre ancient primal memory of like, you know, sharing 836 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:31,520 Speaker 2: food on the savannah or something. 837 00:38:31,520 --> 00:38:33,840 Speaker 1: I think, you know, someone, I don't understand any of 838 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:36,279 Speaker 1: these opinions. You're sharing anal if. 839 00:38:36,239 --> 00:38:38,160 Speaker 2: We're talking about eating and poop and wouldn't it make 840 00:38:38,200 --> 00:38:41,319 Speaker 2: more biological sense for people to eat in private and 841 00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:43,719 Speaker 2: then poop together, because then you're using your mouth for 842 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:46,600 Speaker 2: just one thing. You give me the weirdest look. 843 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:50,040 Speaker 1: You are supposed to come visit me in March, and 844 00:38:50,200 --> 00:38:53,480 Speaker 1: I am thinking of rescinding the invitation. 845 00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:57,759 Speaker 2: When a biologist thinks your poop comments are weird, then 846 00:38:57,800 --> 00:38:58,759 Speaker 2: I guess you're over the line. 847 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,520 Speaker 1: Yeah, you've gone too far this. Let's back things up. 848 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,720 Speaker 2: Tell me more about this taco sauce in space, because 849 00:39:05,920 --> 00:39:07,759 Speaker 2: are you telling me they used taco sauce so much 850 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:09,800 Speaker 2: it became like a condiment you could put on anything. 851 00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:12,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, and mayonnaise is also very popular, although I don't 852 00:39:12,480 --> 00:39:15,120 Speaker 1: think of mayonnaise as being super flavorful, but like, condiments 853 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:17,880 Speaker 1: are big in space for whatever reason. So we were 854 00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:20,520 Speaker 1: talking about, you know, the cultural aspects of food. So 855 00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:24,279 Speaker 1: throughout the different space eras, there have been different programs 856 00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,719 Speaker 1: where folks from different cultures have come up and a 857 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:28,279 Speaker 1: lot of them try to bring some of their own 858 00:39:28,320 --> 00:39:31,920 Speaker 1: food from home with them, and this is really exciting 859 00:39:31,920 --> 00:39:33,560 Speaker 1: for the astronauts because they get a chance to try 860 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:36,320 Speaker 1: something new. And you know, things get pretty monotonous in space. 861 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,080 Speaker 1: But there is also like some cofflic so for example, 862 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:41,680 Speaker 1: they're supposed to send up fifty percent Russian food and 863 00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:45,680 Speaker 1: fifty percent American food. And there was this experiment where 864 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:48,560 Speaker 1: diaries were taken from astronauts like every day that have 865 00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:50,600 Speaker 1: to write this is what my day was like, this 866 00:39:50,640 --> 00:39:52,680 Speaker 1: is how I felt, blah blah blah. And one of 867 00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:55,960 Speaker 1: the people their diary entry was I have had many 868 00:39:56,000 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 1: programmatic flights with the Russians about the inequality of Russians 869 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:03,040 Speaker 1: slash US foods supposed to be fifty to fifty. They 870 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,360 Speaker 1: have always had more Russian on board, using the rationale 871 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:09,840 Speaker 1: that people like Russian food better. That is bull. 872 00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:16,480 Speaker 2: Cold war in space, Cold war in space. 873 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:18,880 Speaker 1: Oh all right, we're about to stop for a break, 874 00:40:19,719 --> 00:40:23,239 Speaker 1: but folks should wonder while during the break, what was 875 00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:28,560 Speaker 1: Swedish issa astronaut Christopher Fugla sang. Don't send me emails 876 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:31,640 Speaker 1: about that, sorry, guys, discouraged from bringing with him in 877 00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:34,440 Speaker 1: space in two thousand and six that he really wanted 878 00:40:34,440 --> 00:40:37,240 Speaker 1: to bring with him. We'll get back to it after 879 00:40:37,239 --> 00:40:37,640 Speaker 1: the break. 880 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:43,840 Speaker 2: I'm guessing some stinky fish thing. 881 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:01,239 Speaker 1: So the question is Swedish astronaut he was coming to 882 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:03,160 Speaker 1: space in two thousand and six. What did he want 883 00:41:03,160 --> 00:41:05,120 Speaker 1: to bring with him that he was discouraged from bringing 884 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:08,720 Speaker 1: Daniel guest stinky fish thing. So I think all fish stink. 885 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:11,440 Speaker 1: I hate the smaller fish, which is why that job 886 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:12,960 Speaker 1: where I had to jump into a dump truck full 887 00:41:13,000 --> 00:41:15,400 Speaker 1: of dead fish for my master's degree was just so miserable. 888 00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:19,279 Speaker 1: But actually, when the Japanese bring fish, the Russians bring fish, 889 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:21,960 Speaker 1: these are very popular meals. Maybe because they're more flavorful, 890 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,920 Speaker 1: Maybe it comes back to that. But no, this Swedish 891 00:41:24,920 --> 00:41:29,320 Speaker 1: astronaut wanted to bring reindeer jerky, and there was concern 892 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:34,120 Speaker 1: that this would upset American children because. 893 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:35,960 Speaker 2: He's eating Rudolph. 894 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:40,319 Speaker 1: Exactly, He's eating Santa's reindeer. I'm not going to get 895 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:46,160 Speaker 1: Christmas presents for sure, And so instead he brought moose jerky. Anyway, 896 00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:50,200 Speaker 1: international disaster averted. So what South Korean food do you 897 00:41:50,239 --> 00:41:51,040 Speaker 1: think they had to bring? 898 00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:51,520 Speaker 2: Kimchi? 899 00:41:51,680 --> 00:41:54,319 Speaker 1: Of course, kim g of course, I can't say that 900 00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:57,759 Speaker 1: I'm a kimchi fan personally. And your face says you 901 00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:58,839 Speaker 1: like kimchi? Is that right? 902 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:02,359 Speaker 2: Is great? On everything? Oh my gosh, we're a big 903 00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:03,240 Speaker 2: fan of pickle foods. 904 00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:03,720 Speaker 3: In my life. 905 00:42:04,080 --> 00:42:06,440 Speaker 1: You know, Zach really likes pickled food. So you two 906 00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:08,560 Speaker 1: will have a great time when you visit. I'll stay 907 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:12,280 Speaker 1: somewhere else. But so, the South Koreans wanted to bring kimchi, 908 00:42:12,560 --> 00:42:15,320 Speaker 1: and one of the food scientists in Korea who was 909 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:20,520 Speaker 1: working on the kimchi said, without kimchi, Koreans feel flabby. 910 00:42:20,840 --> 00:42:22,240 Speaker 1: Not wanting a flabby astronaut. 911 00:42:22,320 --> 00:42:24,719 Speaker 2: I think it's a big part of being Korean having kimchi. Yeah, 912 00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:26,320 Speaker 2: you got to have it or you're not really eating. 913 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:28,680 Speaker 1: But I don't think I would have connected it with flabbiness. 914 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:29,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's interesting. 915 00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:32,080 Speaker 1: I wonder if that was like a lost in translation 916 00:42:32,200 --> 00:42:33,680 Speaker 1: sort of thing. But so, one of the problems with 917 00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:37,880 Speaker 1: kimchi is that kimchi uses bacteria in the fermentation process, 918 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:41,439 Speaker 1: and when NASA sends stuff up to space, they don't 919 00:42:41,440 --> 00:42:45,319 Speaker 1: want any bacteria in there because food poisoning, comput tape 920 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:47,000 Speaker 1: blah blah blah, and so they had to try to 921 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:48,920 Speaker 1: find a way to like get kimchi part way through 922 00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:52,680 Speaker 1: the fermentation process and then kill all the bacteria and 923 00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:57,040 Speaker 1: still try to make it flavorful, and apparently it didn't 924 00:42:57,400 --> 00:43:03,000 Speaker 1: really work. The Korean astronauts soyyan Yi said after radiation, 925 00:43:03,080 --> 00:43:05,239 Speaker 1: because they had to radiate it to kill the bacteria. 926 00:43:05,640 --> 00:43:10,040 Speaker 1: After radiation, the kimchi became so saggy it looked like 927 00:43:10,080 --> 00:43:13,960 Speaker 1: it was one hundred years old. I cannot say it's 928 00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:17,400 Speaker 1: really tasteful kimchi, but still I like it because I 929 00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:19,040 Speaker 1: can feel my home, so you know. 930 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:21,319 Speaker 2: But they're not really making it sterile, right, I mean, 931 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:24,000 Speaker 2: if you were radiate foods, my microbiologist's wife would just 932 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:27,160 Speaker 2: tell me that you're enhancing the extremophiles, right, she. 933 00:43:27,120 --> 00:43:29,680 Speaker 1: Should be a food scientist. Yeah, no, I don't know 934 00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:32,120 Speaker 1: the answer. Yeah, maybe they killed it some other way. Also, 935 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:35,239 Speaker 1: maybe they irradiated it and then like ultra heat processed it. 936 00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:36,960 Speaker 2: But is the concern that you're going to bring up 937 00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:39,120 Speaker 2: some bacteria that's going to get people sick, that's the idea? 938 00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:42,279 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. Well, we've pretty much gone over 939 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:44,719 Speaker 1: the history of food and space, Like, we figured a 940 00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:46,840 Speaker 1: lot of stuff out. We've got ways to make food 941 00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:50,600 Speaker 1: shelf stable, we've got some ways to make it not 942 00:43:50,680 --> 00:43:53,880 Speaker 1: taste so bad. But everybody still definitely super excited when 943 00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:57,160 Speaker 1: the fresh stuff comes up. But what party would be 944 00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:02,600 Speaker 1: complete in space or otherwise without alcohol? So, first of all, 945 00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:05,400 Speaker 1: I want to pitch this great book called Alcohol in 946 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:09,160 Speaker 1: Space by Chris Carberry. It's a super fun read about 947 00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:13,200 Speaker 1: the past and future of alcohol in space. So, Daniels, 948 00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:15,319 Speaker 1: when the first American drank in space? Do you know 949 00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:16,560 Speaker 1: who or when it was? 950 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:20,040 Speaker 2: I have no idea who had the first drink in space. 951 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:22,279 Speaker 2: Was it connected to the person who first the acted 952 00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:22,680 Speaker 2: in space? 953 00:44:22,880 --> 00:44:26,319 Speaker 1: No? No, So actually I don't know if any of 954 00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:30,960 Speaker 1: the Russians had drinks in space, quick tangent Here, In general, 955 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:33,560 Speaker 1: the Soviet space program is like way more okay with 956 00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:36,080 Speaker 1: alcohol in space. In the US program, I think they 957 00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:38,439 Speaker 1: like totally accept that the end of a stressful day 958 00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:41,720 Speaker 1: is not a problem to have like a shot of something. Yeah, 959 00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:43,160 Speaker 1: as far as I could tell, there have been no 960 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:45,960 Speaker 1: instances of drinking getting out of control, where like at 961 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:47,920 Speaker 1: the end of the day somebody had like the bottle 962 00:44:48,120 --> 00:44:50,000 Speaker 1: instead of a shot. And in fact, there was an 963 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:53,600 Speaker 1: incident on Mirror where one of the oxygen canisters caught fire, 964 00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:55,799 Speaker 1: and so there was like a fire in space that 965 00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:57,440 Speaker 1: they were trying to put out. There was some concern 966 00:44:57,480 --> 00:45:00,560 Speaker 1: that they were going to have to abandon the space station. Afterwards, 967 00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:03,560 Speaker 1: the psychologists for the crew called up and they were like, 968 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:07,120 Speaker 1: we think you should all drink a little and so 969 00:45:07,320 --> 00:45:11,480 Speaker 1: like relax. So like the Russians and the Soviets have 970 00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:13,880 Speaker 1: always been way more comfortable. And I was talking to 971 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:16,480 Speaker 1: someone who works on life support systems for the ISS, 972 00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:19,839 Speaker 1: and even though NASA is like, no, no alcohol, You're 973 00:45:19,840 --> 00:45:22,520 Speaker 1: not supposed to have alcohol in space. The air quality 974 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:25,160 Speaker 1: is monitored to an incredible degree on the International Space 975 00:45:25,160 --> 00:45:27,080 Speaker 1: Station because you know, like carbon dioxide needs to get 976 00:45:27,080 --> 00:45:29,040 Speaker 1: removed by the system. And I guess every once in 977 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:31,600 Speaker 1: a while they pick up ethanol from the Russian side 978 00:45:31,680 --> 00:45:35,160 Speaker 1: of the space station that they're not expecting, and so 979 00:45:35,200 --> 00:45:37,440 Speaker 1: they think that's instances where like alcohol has been kind 980 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:39,640 Speaker 1: of snuck up into space even though NASA doesn't want it, 981 00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:41,759 Speaker 1: because the Russians just don't care about it as much. 982 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:46,719 Speaker 1: First astronaut to have a drink in space, though, was 983 00:45:46,760 --> 00:45:47,440 Speaker 1: buzz Aldrin. 984 00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:49,800 Speaker 2: Of course, should have guessed good old Buzz. 985 00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:54,239 Speaker 1: I am always hesitant to joke about buzz Aldrin and 986 00:45:54,320 --> 00:45:56,560 Speaker 1: drinking because he admitted in one of his books that 987 00:45:56,600 --> 00:45:59,879 Speaker 1: he has a problem with alcoholism. But he is also 988 00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:04,000 Speaker 1: Catholic and he wanted to take communion when he landed 989 00:46:04,040 --> 00:46:05,839 Speaker 1: on the moon, and so they landed on the moon, 990 00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:08,560 Speaker 1: and before they got out of the lander, he had 991 00:46:08,680 --> 00:46:11,320 Speaker 1: a little sip of wine. So wine was the first 992 00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:14,080 Speaker 1: and I think only alcoholic beverage consumed on the moon. 993 00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:16,279 Speaker 1: And then he had when I was a Catholic kid 994 00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:18,560 Speaker 1: growing up, I called them christ crackers, but like the 995 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,040 Speaker 1: communion wafers. He took communion on the moon, and that 996 00:46:21,080 --> 00:46:23,920 Speaker 1: was the first time anyone had alcohol on. 997 00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:26,719 Speaker 2: The wh And was that the first communion off the 998 00:46:26,719 --> 00:46:27,439 Speaker 2: surface of the earth. 999 00:46:27,480 --> 00:46:29,600 Speaker 1: Well, that's a good question. That's the first communion that 1000 00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:32,920 Speaker 1: I read about. There was a passage from the Bible 1001 00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:36,480 Speaker 1: that was read during Apollo eight, which happened over Christmas. 1002 00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:39,960 Speaker 1: But for a long time buzz Aldrin didn't talk about 1003 00:46:40,000 --> 00:46:42,719 Speaker 1: taking communion because there was like a bit of a 1004 00:46:42,760 --> 00:46:46,000 Speaker 1: brew haha about like whether religious things should be happening 1005 00:46:46,040 --> 00:46:48,640 Speaker 1: in space when its taxpayer dollars in our country as 1006 00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:50,799 Speaker 1: separation of church and state, and so I think a 1007 00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:53,120 Speaker 1: lot of that stuff was hushed up and then not 1008 00:46:53,200 --> 00:46:56,360 Speaker 1: mentioned until later. So maybe something happened but it wasn't reported. 1009 00:46:56,880 --> 00:46:59,719 Speaker 1: But buzz Aldrin is the first instance that I know about. Wow, 1010 00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:03,440 Speaker 1: So here's another important question. This conversation has been kind 1011 00:47:03,480 --> 00:47:04,759 Speaker 1: of all over the place, but I'm having a lot 1012 00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:08,319 Speaker 1: of fun. Would you drink beer in space? And if so, 1013 00:47:09,440 --> 00:47:11,080 Speaker 1: why are why not? Do you drink beer at all? 1014 00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:14,000 Speaker 2: I'm a fan of beer, absolutely, I think beer is delicious, 1015 00:47:14,040 --> 00:47:15,960 Speaker 2: and in our house again, we're big fans of all 1016 00:47:16,040 --> 00:47:18,960 Speaker 2: kinds of fermented foods where ilied with the microbes and 1017 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:20,759 Speaker 2: make our bread and our beer and our pickles and 1018 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:23,000 Speaker 2: all sorts of stuff. I think I would like to 1019 00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:24,799 Speaker 2: enjoy beer in space, but I'd be worried a little 1020 00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:27,920 Speaker 2: bit about the burping. Do you burp in space? The 1021 00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,640 Speaker 2: same way? Now? I'm thinking about how the Earth plays 1022 00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:33,360 Speaker 2: a role in all of my biological functions, moving stuff 1023 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:37,080 Speaker 2: up and down and all the round, And so I'd 1024 00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:39,880 Speaker 2: be worried about like a large gas bubble forming inside 1025 00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:40,040 Speaker 2: of me. 1026 00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:44,000 Speaker 1: Exactly. Yeah, so burping in space is apparently very unpleasant. 1027 00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:47,840 Speaker 1: Those air bubbles often like bring food up with them also, 1028 00:47:49,160 --> 00:47:53,240 Speaker 1: So like Pepsi and Coke during the Cola Wars or whatever, 1029 00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:55,320 Speaker 1: they both sent their beverages up to space and space 1030 00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:57,920 Speaker 1: particular containers. I can't remember if they sent them up 1031 00:47:57,960 --> 00:48:00,480 Speaker 1: flat because they knew this was a proud or if 1032 00:48:00,520 --> 00:48:03,120 Speaker 1: it was really unpleasant for people, because but anyway, carbonated 1033 00:48:03,160 --> 00:48:07,000 Speaker 1: beverages not appreciated in space because burping in space is 1034 00:48:07,040 --> 00:48:08,719 Speaker 1: a very unpleasant experience. 1035 00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:10,840 Speaker 2: Well that's too bad, because burping on the surface of 1036 00:48:10,840 --> 00:48:13,120 Speaker 2: the Earth is really pretty great. And I'm a big 1037 00:48:13,160 --> 00:48:15,880 Speaker 2: fan of sparkling water and all sorts of other carbonated beverages. 1038 00:48:16,239 --> 00:48:18,600 Speaker 2: So what a big bum about going at I know. 1039 00:48:18,680 --> 00:48:21,560 Speaker 1: I totally agree. Like Zach is not in your camp 1040 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,359 Speaker 1: at all. He thinks all bodily sounds should be kept 1041 00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:27,000 Speaker 1: to oneself. I don't know why he married a biologist. 1042 00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:29,799 Speaker 1: We all make mistakes, but like one of the nice 1043 00:48:29,840 --> 00:48:33,120 Speaker 1: things about Mars might be that if you did beer 1044 00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:37,960 Speaker 1: on Mars, that gravity might be enough to sort of 1045 00:48:38,000 --> 00:48:41,719 Speaker 1: make the problem of belching go away or at least 1046 00:48:41,719 --> 00:48:44,880 Speaker 1: be less unpleasant. So yeah, or rotating space stations, you know, 1047 00:48:44,960 --> 00:48:47,120 Speaker 1: So we have to solve these problems quickly so that 1048 00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:48,480 Speaker 1: we can start bringing beer to space. 1049 00:48:49,000 --> 00:48:52,080 Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, because if humans are going to live in 1050 00:48:52,120 --> 00:48:53,960 Speaker 2: space or on other planets, we've got to figure out 1051 00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:57,480 Speaker 2: how to keep people happy. It's not just about survival, 1052 00:48:57,600 --> 00:49:00,520 Speaker 2: it's about living life and quality of life. We don't 1053 00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:03,520 Speaker 2: just want to eke out some primitive like existence where 1054 00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:06,440 Speaker 2: we're squeezing food tubes into each other's mouths. We want 1055 00:49:06,520 --> 00:49:09,960 Speaker 2: to actually have joy and fun out in space or 1056 00:49:09,960 --> 00:49:10,840 Speaker 2: on other planets. 1057 00:49:10,960 --> 00:49:13,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, right, so biosphere. We're going to talk about Biosphere 1058 00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:17,200 Speaker 1: two in the next episode. But to sort of cut 1059 00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:19,799 Speaker 1: to the chase on that story, they lost a bunch 1060 00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:23,000 Speaker 1: of weight because they couldn't produce enough food in this 1061 00:49:23,160 --> 00:49:25,920 Speaker 1: facility where they were trying to like close every same thing, 1062 00:49:25,960 --> 00:49:28,040 Speaker 1: so the plants would make the oxygen and they would 1063 00:49:28,080 --> 00:49:30,200 Speaker 1: remove the carbon dioxide and that would also be what 1064 00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:33,040 Speaker 1: they ate. And the men lost eighteen percent of their 1065 00:49:33,080 --> 00:49:35,840 Speaker 1: body weight and the women lost ten percent. Oh but 1066 00:49:36,000 --> 00:49:38,759 Speaker 1: even though they were having trouble getting enough calories for 1067 00:49:38,800 --> 00:49:41,440 Speaker 1: dinner and they were like literally like licking their bowls 1068 00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:44,439 Speaker 1: to try to get the last of everything, they took 1069 00:49:44,480 --> 00:49:48,840 Speaker 1: some of their precious bananas to make banana wine, because, 1070 00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:52,080 Speaker 1: like you said, it's not just about eking out in existence. Like, 1071 00:49:52,160 --> 00:49:56,239 Speaker 1: plenty of people have great lives without alcohol, but some 1072 00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:59,040 Speaker 1: of us really like to have a glass of wine 1073 00:49:59,080 --> 00:50:00,440 Speaker 1: at the end of the day or something. And they 1074 00:50:00,440 --> 00:50:02,520 Speaker 1: were willing to give up some of their calories, so 1075 00:50:02,560 --> 00:50:04,920 Speaker 1: that they could make this wine to bring them a 1076 00:50:04,920 --> 00:50:06,640 Speaker 1: little bit of joy at the end of a hard day. 1077 00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:08,920 Speaker 1: I think they were doing like eight to ten hours 1078 00:50:08,920 --> 00:50:11,399 Speaker 1: of labor tending their crops five and a half days 1079 00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:13,920 Speaker 1: a week, so it was like intense. And Andy Weir, 1080 00:50:14,520 --> 00:50:17,040 Speaker 1: so he's the guy who wrote The Martian, and in 1081 00:50:17,080 --> 00:50:20,360 Speaker 1: The Martian his main character Mark Wattney. I think the 1082 00:50:20,360 --> 00:50:23,520 Speaker 1: guy's name is he eats a bunch of potatoes, and 1083 00:50:23,520 --> 00:50:27,400 Speaker 1: those potatoes the fertilizer is like human poo. And people 1084 00:50:27,440 --> 00:50:31,600 Speaker 1: have asked Andy Weir a lot, why didn't he use 1085 00:50:31,680 --> 00:50:35,720 Speaker 1: any of those potatoes to make liquor, And Andy Weer 1086 00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:39,759 Speaker 1: answered that, like, it would have taken so many potatoes 1087 00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:42,640 Speaker 1: to make the liquor that he just he probably would 1088 00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:44,719 Speaker 1: have died, he wouldn't have gotten enough calories. And I 1089 00:50:44,719 --> 00:50:47,759 Speaker 1: think that's a totally reasonable conclusion to come to. But 1090 00:50:47,840 --> 00:50:51,839 Speaker 1: when you actually have humans who are starving, we will 1091 00:50:51,880 --> 00:50:55,440 Speaker 1: make banana wine because we need to be happy too. 1092 00:50:55,480 --> 00:50:57,480 Speaker 1: So yeah, I think the trick for space. Like so, 1093 00:50:57,520 --> 00:50:59,319 Speaker 1: as we mentioned, a lot of these missions are short. 1094 00:50:59,360 --> 00:51:02,000 Speaker 1: They're like weeks, months, maybe a year or something, so 1095 00:51:02,200 --> 00:51:06,080 Speaker 1: you can handle eating food that's not super flavorful. But 1096 00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:09,239 Speaker 1: when we're finally settling somewhere and staying there for years 1097 00:51:09,239 --> 00:51:11,480 Speaker 1: at a time, there's a lot that we need to 1098 00:51:11,600 --> 00:51:13,640 Speaker 1: learn so that we can get better about this kind 1099 00:51:13,680 --> 00:51:17,600 Speaker 1: of stuff, because like rehydrated potatoes are not going to 1100 00:51:17,640 --> 00:51:21,239 Speaker 1: cut it for a lifetime. So in the next episode, 1101 00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:23,720 Speaker 1: we'll talk more about the future of food and space. 1102 00:51:24,400 --> 00:51:27,480 Speaker 2: I mean, even on airplane flights. The first approach, which 1103 00:51:27,560 --> 00:51:30,000 Speaker 2: is just like, get some food up there which is 1104 00:51:30,160 --> 00:51:32,680 Speaker 2: edible and not going to kill people. People are not 1105 00:51:32,719 --> 00:51:34,640 Speaker 2: cool with it, right, And this is why we now 1106 00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:38,400 Speaker 2: have pretty good food on airplanes because companies realize, like 1107 00:51:38,520 --> 00:51:41,360 Speaker 2: humans will always want good food, they will pay a 1108 00:51:41,400 --> 00:51:43,680 Speaker 2: little bit more to have good food. Even if you're 1109 00:51:43,719 --> 00:51:46,320 Speaker 2: just any air for a few hours. It's not okay 1110 00:51:46,560 --> 00:51:49,920 Speaker 2: to just squeeze something into your mouth to survive. It's 1111 00:51:50,000 --> 00:51:53,400 Speaker 2: part of living and it's part of enjoying this extraordinary universe. 1112 00:51:53,640 --> 00:51:58,200 Speaker 1: Humans also want more leg room. Airlines take note, work 1113 00:51:58,200 --> 00:52:02,200 Speaker 1: on that two planes. Even I'm that tall, all. 1114 00:52:02,160 --> 00:52:05,000 Speaker 2: Right, Airplane engineers work on more legroom. In the meantime, 1115 00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:08,960 Speaker 2: stay tuned for our next episode about food in space. 1116 00:52:15,880 --> 00:52:19,719 Speaker 1: Daniel and Kelly's Extraordinary Universe is produced by iHeartRadio. 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