06-07-2025
NASA Wasn't Happy When Astronaut John Young Smuggled This Food Into Space
On March 23, 1965, NASA launched astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John Young into orbit on the Gemini III mission. The launch was the result of countless hours of preparation and research, and, of course, millions upon millions of dollars. Every detail of the mission was meticulously planned, including approved foods that could be eaten once up and out of the atmosphere. NASA didn't send many provisions on the mission (it was less than five hours long). In fact, there were only rations for Young. Young took it upon himself to smuggle in a meal for Grissom, one he knew that Grissom enjoyed. The sneaky astronaut tucked a corned beef sandwich on rye bread into his spacesuit without informing NASA, a move which the space giant (and Congress) wasn't happy about once the secret was uncovered.
Once the astronauts were in orbit, Young passed the sandwich to his commander, who ate some of the sandwich but hid the remainder in his own pocket. It's unclear when NASA found out about the unapproved food, but the two rule-breakers were disciplined by their employer once the beef was out of the bag. The event even appears in the Guinness Book of World Records as the first food smuggled into space, further cementing the exchange in history. The sandwich (or rather, a replica caked in resin) and the incident is memorialized at the Grissom Memorial Museum in Mitchell, Indiana.
You may be wondering what the big deal is. The fact is, any foods allowed to go out of this world are thoroughly vetted because certain items can be downright dangerous for either the astronauts or the spacecraft itself.
Read more: Once Popular Sandwiches People Don't Eat Anymore
Space food and menu planning are an important part of any space mission. Not only do the nutritional and caloric needs of the astronauts need to be taken into account, but logistics as well. For example, there's limited storage space. If a food is too bulky, it might get banned to prioritize smaller, more calorie-dense items.
The lack of gravity is another factor, as is any mess potential. In fact, mess is precisely why bread is on NASA's list of banned foods. Bread crumbs will begin to float in the absence of gravity and could potentially end up in an astronaut's eye or in important equipment. Tortillas are NASA's preferred type of grain.
For similar reasons, salt and pepper are also not allowed in space, but that doesn't mean space food must be bland. Liquid seasonings have been developed for astronauts to use. Carbonated drinks like sodas stay on earth. In space, the carbon dioxide (bubbles) in these beverages don't rise up and out of the liquid. If a person were to drink one in orbit, they'd be ingesting more carbonation than they would if they were drinking one on earth. This can cause stomach aches.
Space food has come a long way since the first Mercury missions, where food was largely freeze-dried, unappetizing, and packaged in aluminum tubes. As space exploration has evolved, so has the menu for astronauts. It's unclear whether corned beef (which isn't the same as pastrami) on tortillas is allowed to go to infinity and beyond, but we do know that bacon already made it to the moon with NASA's approval.
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