18 Astronaut Meals That Grossed Me Out At The Beginning, But Now I’m Seriously Kind Of Craving

I don’t know, you guys. I don’t know how I got to looking at vintage astronaut meals, but I did, and now, for whatever reason, I’m craving little cubes of food. Anyway, take a look at these dishes they ate in space because, honestly, it doesn’t look bad.

Firstly, this was the 1964 proposed menu for the Gemini mission. Honestly, I could go for a gingerbread cube now. However…

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…I might skip the beef and vegetables. I would be lying if I said I didn’t pass by this image, thinking it was a tube of acrylic paint. Nope, it’s dinner for the Mercury mission in 1962.

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This bag of pork and potato scallops from the Apollo mission in 1969.

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This tea bag and sugar that flew with cosmonaut Aleksandr Volkov in the 1980s (which he signed after he got back).

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This “thermostabilized” meal that flew on Columbia of “apple drink”, rice pilaf, Italian beans, and a nice can of chocolate pudding.

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This pineapple-grapefruit drink brick that would have been rehydrated with seven ounces of water before consumption.

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This heavily compacted box of cereal, which, yes, you could rehydrate, but something makes me want to pop it out and eat it like a sandwich. Fun fact: Crumbly foods were packaged with an edible film around them to avoid floating crumbs. I’m not going to lie; it annoys me so much thinking about random food crumbs floating around my face.

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Remember our tube of beef and vegetables? They were served a little bit more of an upgrade on the Apollo 11 mission.

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This chicken and vegetable, beef hash, and beef and gravy for the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Imagine that: three dinners that could easily fit in my purse.

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10.

This SkyLab tray from the early 1970s that was actually its own oven, too! It heated the first row of packages and sat right on the astronaut’s lap.

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11.

This very ergonomic-looking chocolate instant breakfast. It honestly seems like something I’d see with someone jogging past me in the park.

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12.

This yellow…thing from the STS-5 mission in 1982. While I’m not sure what the yellow is, I can tell you it’s a drink because it’s got a straw. The straw has a little tourniquet on it so the liquid doesn’t casually start coming out. Gravity’s a kicker.

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13.

I’m not sure why this reminds me of hairspray, but it’s actually a can of Coke specifically designed to be enjoyed in zero gravity. It was flown on mission 51-F in 1985.

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14.

This very thin-looking pot roast and gravy that an astronaut is enjoying during a spacecraft training in 1966.

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15.

These sugar cookie cubes flew on Gemini in the 1960s. I’m going to be completely honest: I would buy these if they sold them at my grocery store. They sound delicious.

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16.

Here’s some more Gemini food for you: Beef pot roast, orange juice, toasted bread cubes, and bacon egg bites in the bottom corner. Seriously, I’m starting to think of how much more efficient I would be if all of my meals were in little cubes.

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17.

In 2005, Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi brought ramen, specially designed by Nissin, with her to space aboard Discovery.

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18.

Finally, in this day and age, there are things like (clockwise from top left) ready-to-eat corned beef, dehydrated creamed spinach, dehydrated teriyaki chicken, and ready-to-eat legumes soup. TBH that sounds pretty good!

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There’s everything and more you never know you needed to know about space food. Now tell me, which food WOULD not translate well to a tube or a cube? Tell me in the comments below!