{"id":329921,"date":"2026-03-05T08:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T08:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/329921\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T08:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T08:12:15","slug":"artemis-ii-astronauts-will-eat-a-lot-of-tortillas-on-their-trip-to-the-moon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/329921\/","title":{"rendered":"Artemis II astronauts will eat a lot of tortillas on their trip to the moon"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Food is a famously fickle thing<\/a> in space. Astronaut menus<\/a> are carefully constructed to maximize nutrition and calories while minimizing storage requirements, preparation needs, and the possibility of contamination. And then there are the crumbs. As annoying as they are in your lap on Earth, a single rogue cookie chunk could literally jeopardize an entire mission.<\/p>\n

Astronaut meals may still not be go-to choices on a regular day in standard gravity, but they\u2019ve certainly come a long way since the grim looking packets of freeze-dried chicken and rice<\/a> that accompanied Apollo 11<\/a> in 1969. NASA recently offered a rundown of the entire menu aboard its upcoming, 10-day Artemis II lunar mission<\/a>. The long and short of it? Lots of smoothies, tortillas, and coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn a typical mission day\u2014excluding launch and reentry\u2014astronauts have scheduled time for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each astronaut is allotted two flavored beverages per day, which may include coffee,\u201d NASA explained<\/a>. \u201cBeverage options are limited due to upmass constraints, which restrict how much food and drink can be carried onboard.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"InfographicNo sign of astronaut ice cream for this mission. Credit: NASA<\/a> <\/p>\n

Luckily, the astronauts provided plenty of input for these food choices. The four-person crew have already sampled and rated various options during preflight tests, with considerations given to both nutritional requirements and the Orion spacecraft\u2019s storage restrictions. Final selections include mango salad, barbecued beef brisket, spicy green beans, as well as macaroni and cheese. A total of 43 cups of coffee will help caffeinate astronauts on their trip to the moon, while five different hot sauces will satisfy any spice needs. Spreadables to boost any given meal\u2019s flavor include maple syrup, peanut butter, mustard, jam, and honey.<\/p>\n

Astronauts will not be able to do any additional food prep during Artemis II\u2019s launch and landing phases, which means only ready-to-eat offerings during those times. Otherwise, the crew will rely on Orion\u2019s potable water dispenser to rehydrate freeze-dried foods, while a \u201cbriefcase-style food warmer\u201d will heat up other dishes. Approximately 2 to 3 days\u2019 worth of meals are also packaged together in small boxes.<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tHow To Eat In Space\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cPreparation is intentionally simple, using ready-to-eat, rehydratable, thermostabilized, or irradiated foods that can be safely prepared without interfering with crew operations or spacecraft systems,\u201d added NASA.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a surprisingly diverse range of meals and snacks\u2014and certainly a step up from the Apollo era dining experience. However, there is one notable absence from Artemis II\u2019s kitchen. When it launches\u2014currently no earlier than April 1, 2026\u2014there doesn\u2019t appear to be any astronaut ice cream on the menu.<\/p>\n

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Andrew Paul is a staff writer for Popular Science.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Get the Popular Science daily newsletter\ud83d\udca1 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Food is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[426,61,60,6185,43,82,247],"class_list":{"0":"post-329921","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-food","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-moon","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-space"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}