The taste of space: "Tang fears", the truth about the ice called astronaut and the vegans for the victory



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Tang was not meant to travel in space, but the trip to space made it famous. The sweet orange drink did not take off when it was introduced to the US market in 1959, but after being launched by American astronauts in the 1960s (the "ORANGE DRINK"), Tang owned the best integrated brand in the world. Ads touted it as "For Astronauts and Families of the Earth", and this was the case for every spaceflight inhabited in the decade after 1965.

Tang never left – I drink a drink now. All right, I'm looking at this with apprehension: two full tablespoons of light powder are needed to make an 8-ounce serving, and the mix is ​​made up of sugar, fructose (which is sugar) and citric acid ("ACIDITY PROVIDES") Natural flavors account for less than 2% of Tang flour, with ascorbic acid, maltodextrin and more, including artificial dyes that make it shine. Its smell is surprisingly strong. It is a strong and persistent artificial citrus note, located millions of kilometers away from the scent of the sun shining on an orange grove.

It takes a special kind of person to go into space – a person who has no objection to staying in confined quarters with others for long periods of time, or that these Neighborhoods pass near a certain death, or things like your beloved ones and a real orange must be left far behind. Fresh fruits did not fly to the Space Shuttle, and even NASA qualifies the food that the first astronauts endured to "show their courage," with limited menus of "cubes at the waist." , freeze-dried powders and semi-liquids ". Much of the food, as it was, came from aluminum tubes. The astronauts found this "unappetizing" – perhaps a euphemism – and they "hated hugging the tubes in their mouths".

But the tubes, in their context, were a good thing. In the space, the food must be carefully contained. Without gravity, the crumbs are dangerous, they do not fall obedient on the ground; they could foul the instruments of a spaceship, with cinematically terrifying implications. This freeze-dried "astronaut" ice cream was the best way to go into space for you, child (or at least for me, child)? With its extreme decay, it would be a very bad idea. There is no trace of freeze-dried ice cream that makes it available on any mission.

Freeze-dried "astronaut" ice cream: a favorite of children, but perhaps not the best for space travel. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

Freeze-dried "astronaut" ice cream: a favorite of children, but perhaps not the best for space travel. (Bettina Hansen / The Seattle Times)

The food in the space has improved, although incrementally with a small sound. Gemini astronauts enjoyed their cubes of food coated with gelatin (yum). Improved packaging has opened new menu choices such as chicken with vegetables, butterscotch pudding and applesauce. The crew of Apollo had even better than the applesauce: they were the first to have hot water. This "facilitates the rehydration of foods and improves their taste," as NASA says with low praise. Skylab even had a table! Footholds allowed the crew to "sit down" (NASA's quotation marks) to eat. There was also a refrigerator, "a convenience that no other vehicle has offered, before or since."

The meals on the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station have been further enhanced by the use of "natural form" rehydratable, heat-stabilized, irradiated and delicious-sounding products, with this latest classification including nuts, cereal bars and biscuits ( we hope they resist the crumb). Astronauts can choose items from the trade that they prefer to repack, but these items are not necessarily attractive outside of the Earth because the taste buds change as fluids go from weightlessness . I'm sure NASA's Space Food Systems Group staff are doing their best, but extraterrestrial meals are not designed for stellar success: limited storage space, limited heating, and what NASA calls "the difficulties of eating without gravity. Not much in the atmosphere, either.

As for food from the future of space, vegans are right and everyone is wrong. NASA's official plan for advanced foods for potential future use calls on settlers elsewhere, "whether they be lunar or planetary", to take foods "similar to a vegetarian diet that someone could cook on Earth – without dairy products ". ignoring the term, but the protocol for these pioneers, after coming to the surface and housing, is very vegan: cultivate and eat crops such as soybeans, rice, wheat, peanuts, potatoes, cabbage, spinach and lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, radishes and herbs. (It can be assumed that this will happen with less fear and despair than in "The Martian".) It seems logical that once we have torn every drop of oil off the shivering surface of the Earth and melted each cap glacial, these rich or these pirates to get rid of it, it will also benefit from a vegan diet. Growing crops to feed them to animals, then eating them will make even less sense on Mars.

I am still watching and catching unhappy whiffs of this glass of Tang. He promises to provide me with a full day supply of vitamin C. He is still popular, with a turnover of nearly $ 900 million in 2016 and still available in about 35 countries. Although it is no longer a favorite in the United States of America, it is important in Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the Philippines (where you can get a flavor of mango, guyabano or pomelo, which I would much rather try). It is suggested to serve the package on ice or cold, but the astronauts would have poured water into the bag containing the powder, mixing it to the best of their ability, then savor, with straw, the temperature of the compartment of the spacecraft.

Yes, the first astronauts did drink Tang, including during the Apollo 11 mission, 50 years ago this summer. It could be said that it helped humans walk on the moon – except that years later, the second person to set foot on it finally broke his silence about Tang. In 2013, with an astronautic franchise and a heroic conciseness, Buzz Aldrin said, "Tang, it's zero." After a few sips at room temperature, I'm with the man of space .

Tang tasting notes

An aggressive citrusy nose is detectable from several feet, while the color radiates alarmingly with what appears to be an almost radioactive internal light. A tart beginner, a chemical acidity gives way to a discussion with a disgusting sweetness, to the detriment of all parties. An overdrive finish looks harmful to the sides of the tongue. Watch out for the sugar crash that followed. – B.J.C.

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