What’s on the Menu? Food and Culture on the International Space Station




Learn from NASA astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams, whose father moved to the U.S. from India, and Xulei Wu, a first-generation Asian American born in China, about the convergence of cuisine and culture in space in observance of Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Hear their tales about the ISS's inclusive standard meal, the significance of food in Indian and Chinese culture, and cultural representation in space.

This is where we cook. You might have noticed that we have a wide variety of meals. It's like opening the refrigerator; everything you could ever desire is there.

In Indian culture, food plays a huge role. Of course, it's the season when everyone comes together, but it still means a lot when someone makes food for someone else and gives it to them as a present.

The bulk of the food on the ISS for US OS crew members is developed, processed, packaged, and supplied by the JC space food systems laboratory.

We thus have all of this food. Some of it has to be hydrated, or filled with water, because it is dehydrated. We only need to heat up some of it because some of it is already prepared.

A kind of metaphor for the various civilizations who visit and reside aboard the International Space Station is provided by the food available there.

About 10% of the main meals on the regular menu are influenced by Asian culture. They offer a distinctive flavor character and give us options for making up for the low salt restriction we must adhere to. The food chain now has more diversity as a result.

Since I've eaten Indian food my entire life and grew up with it, I was quite happy to see it on the usual menu since it makes me think of being a child and eating at home with my family.

There is a well-known Chinese saying that says that eating is what matters most to people in China.

We always include food in our customs. in all manners of festivities, ceremonies, and rituals.

So while there are a few different meals served on the ISS, I believe supper to be the most significant meal. Because of how late that is in the day. Everyone is beginning to wind down. It's great that everyone can eat supper together. Sharing cuisine that may be from your family or culture while discussing its origins, first taste, and significance to you and your family.

Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month is observed by NASA.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Nuclear War Could Starve Billions, But One Country May Be Safer Than The Rest

Image
It all begins with a lone mushroom-shaped cloud that everyone had prayed would never appear again. Tit-for-tat attacks are sparked by retaliation, each of which aims to put an end to this most recent War of All Wars, until, around a week later, Earth starts to tremble under a veil of smoke and dust. Scenarios that map and estimate the destruction caused by a nuclear winter have existed since the Cold War dominated the evening news. Years later, we have a far better understanding of the more subtle consequences of airborne particles on our crops. And the numbers are still depressing. Six scenarios have been put up by a group of scientists from across the world using the most recent information on crop yields and fishery resources to approximate what food supplies may look like following a quickly intensifying nuclear battle between warring states. The death rate from a caloric scarcity problem alone might exterminate the majority of the world's population, leaving aside the immediat...
Read more

Plants Have Been Keeping a Secret From Us About How Thirsty They Actually Are

Image
Have you ever wondered why plants require water or how much water they actually need to grow? Plants require up to 300 grams of water to produce every gram of dry plant matter because they lose a lot of water when they absorb carbon dioxide from the environment. However, things don't have to be that way. In a recent research published in Nature Plants, we describe a natural trick that, in the long run, may be exploited to encourage plant growth while utilizing less water. a component that is necessary for plant development About 80% of the weight of plants is composed of water. Therefore, it stands to reason that plants would require around four grams of water for every gram of dry mass in order to hydrate themselves to their optimal levels. It might be the case, however they require much more water to flourish. A plant requires around 300 grams of water to create one gram of new dry mass. Why is there such a big discrepancy between how much water is needed for development and how ...
Read more

It Really Is in Your Head: Thinking Hard and Long Can Cause Brain Drain

Image
Wallace D. Wattles, an American author from the 19th century, reportedly remarked that "Thinking is the toughest and most demanding of all labor." On the surface, it would seem like a problematic comparison, but according to a recent research, thinking too hard or for too long can actually exhaust your brain, just like working out can. Hard physical work is undoubtedly exhausting, but a person's perspiration or trembling muscles reveal nothing about how hard they may be thinking. We just have to take people at their word when they claim they're psychologically worn out. As a result, researchers are still puzzled as to why sustained contemplation leads to cognitive weariness. It isn't really a feeling of being sleepy; rather, it is the impression that tasks are becoming more difficult to finish or to concentrate on. The brain's most prevalent excitatory neurotransmitter, according to some studies, may be to responsible for this lack of mental stamina. Despite b...
Read more