Space Food – fit for man on the moon. Today’s scrapped launch of the Artemis I moon rocket reminds me of the food I ate as a child courtesy of the space program. And since a trip to the moon now that I have grandchildren feels like a throwback, why not take a trip down memory lane?
Once space flights began to last past a few minutes, it was necessary to address food for astronauts. In the beginning, there were packets of things like mushroom soup, orange-grapefruit juice, chicken with gravy, beef and vegetables, pears, strawberries, and a cocoa beverage in the form of semi-liquid inside tubes. The other option was bite-sized cubes of compressed, dehydrated food that needed only saliva for rehydration.
As time went on, the selection became wider and more tasty. Freeze-drying was used to preserve food while preserving the flavor. The freeze-dried food needed water to be rehydrated and was still primarily squeezed out of tubes.
For the Apollo program, advances made it possible for astronauts to eat with utensils and enjoy tuna salad, chocolate pudding, and cornflakes. I really hope they were crunchy. But keep in mind, there was no refrigeration so even if they had crunchy cornflakes, there was no ice cold milk to go with it. Not to mention, if you tried to pour milk over the cereal, you’d end up with a floating trail of milk – a visual I find amusing.
As these progressions were made, some ideas were incorporated into the Earth food market. The two I remember best are Tang and Space Food Sticks. I ate my share of Space Food Sticks as a kid. Caramel was my favorite flavor.
Unlike banana Fudgsicles®, I don’t specifically remember the taste, but I’m pretty sure I would recognize the texture. The appeal of this snack was two-fold. One, astronauts ate them! Duh! And two, they could stay in the pantry for a long time so they were always handy.
Oh who am I kidding. We didn’t have a pantry. We had a kitchen cabinet with Alka-Seltzer® on the top shelf, Premium saltine and Ritz crackers one shelf down, and Space Sticks and uniced strawberry Toast’em® pop-ups below. Sunday dinner was oven-fried chicken breaded with cornflakes baked on the oven timer while we went to church. It was served with reconstituted powdered milk poured from a wide-mouth gallon pickle jar. But the vegetables were most likely fresh and from the garden.
Now, back to Tang. I don’t know anyone my age who didn’t drink Tang. It was universal. My grandmother even mixed it with mayonnaise to make salad dressing for carrot raisin salad.
Tang wasn’t actually developed for the space program but became inextricably linked with NASA when it was consumed on early manned space missions. Sales increased dramatically when John Glenn sipped an orange beverage out of a pouch during a Mercury mission. To capitalize on this sales boost, a series of Tang commercials in the1960s featured space explorers and related taglines culminating in the 1969 “For Spacemen and Earth Families” ad campaign.
General Mills used this association to its advantage and found long-term success with expanded flavors and popularity around the world. While sales have diminished in the US, Tang is still readily available.
Given the supply chain disruptions of late, shelf stable foods look more and more appealing. Perhaps GM can capitalize on this new round of space missions to orchestrate a resurgence of sales in the US. I’m sure there are numerous people my age who would enjoy having a glass of Tang with a grandchild while watching a rocket launch.
You won’t be able to eat a Space Food Stick along with your Tang though. Sales floundered as enthusiasm for the space program waned. Production finally ceased in 2014 although the snack was brought back for a brief appearance on the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
Personally, I’m ready for NASA programs to feel like they’re moving forward rather than backward. But if we’re stuck in the way-back machine could somebody please get me a banana Fudgsicle?
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
