Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
International Space Station To Get Japanese Take-Out
Japanese space food will soon be available on the International Space Station; the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has certified 29 Japanese food products for use in space.
(Japanese space food courtesy of JAXA)
Astronauts and cosmonauts can now enjoy such Japanese take-out standards as ramen, curry, onigiri (rice balls) and green tea. What took them so long?
The ISS has tough standards for food in space; it must be able to survive the changes in temperature and pressure on the ride up, and must be able to survive a year in storage at zero-g.
Careful food service engineering is also required; for example, the ramen has a thick broth and the noodles are clumped together in bite-sized pieces. Food products are also packed in special containers, and can have preparation times no longer than an hour. (See some additional Japanese space food samples.)
In 2008, Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata will be joining the ISS staff; he will appreciate these JAXA-approved delicacies (made more tasty in zero-G by extra spices):
- Egg soup
- Rice with red azuki beans and wild greens
- Salmon onigiri (rice balls)
- Mackerel in miso sauce
- Kabayaki saury (broiled with sweet soy sauce)
(Captain Janeway regards a food replicator on the USS Voyager)
Science fiction writers have been dreaming of elaborate space cuisine for generations. John W. Campbell anticipated the Star Trek food replicators in his 1934 story Twilight:
The food was three hundred thousand years old, I suppose. I didn't know, and the machines that served it to me didn't care, for they made things synthetically, you see, and perfectly.
(Read more about Campbell's synthetic food dispenser
Robert Heinlein seized upon the newly invented Raytheon microwave oven in his classic 1948 juvenile novel Space Cadet:
...every ration taken aboard a Patrol vessel is pre-cooked and ready for eating as soon as it is taken out of freeze and subjected to the number of seconds...
(Read more about Heinlein's microwavable food rations)
NASA has also given a great deal of thought about how to provide food to astronauts on long voyages; see Robotic Tomato Harvester Ready For Space for details. The Chinese space program is also interested in the effects of space travel on food production; see Chinese 'Seed Satellite'. US astronauts, however, are going to want beef; take a look at Cultured Meat Straight From The Vat.
Via Pink Tentacle.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 6/28/2007)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Food ")
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?" - Margaret St. Clair, 1955.
Robochef Robotic Food Prep
'No hand touched the food...' - Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1912.
Drone Deliveries Instead Of Waiters In Restaurants?
'It was a smooth ovoid floating a few inches from the floor...'- H. Beam Piper, 1962.
SliceIt! Why Not Teach Robots To Use Knives?
'One building now gushed forth smoke and another stench that was unmistakable.' - Anne McCaffrey, 1996.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Tiny Flying Robot Weighs Just One Gram
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
Some Ringworld Configurations Are Stable
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
TRANSFORM Dynamic Furniture Concept Becomes What You Need
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
Harvard Metamaterials Change Structure Instantly
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
Dino From Magical Toys An AI Companion To Children
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots
''Pardon me, Struthers,' he broke in suddenly... 'haven't you a section of the factory where only robot labor is employed?''
Darpa 'Defiant' Unmanned Autonomous Ship
'There was no wheel, and no steersman!'
What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots?
'I opened the oblong box, where lay the automatons side by side...'
DNA Printed Book By Isaac Asimov Now Available
'They tied the memory to the bloodline and that was their record!'
AI Computer Chip Designs Passeth Human Understanding
'It seems that at one time computers were designed directly by human beings.'
Space Traffic Management (STM) Needed Now
'...the spot was a lonely one in an uncharted region, far from the normal lanes of space traffic.'
Fine-Tune Your Infinite Book The Way You Want It
'I squatted down beside the roller and tried to make some sense out of the knobs. There were thirty-nine of them...'
SpiRobs Soft Spiral Robotic Arm
'Beware the long, flexible, glittering tentacles...'
Holland Factory 3D Printing 500 Tons Of Steak Per Month
'...I don’t understand technical things — tell me, does it ever feel anything?"
Stratospheric Solar Geoengineering From Harvard
'Pina2bo would have to operate full blast for many years to put as much SO2 into the stratosphere as its namesake had done in a few minutes.'
