Dehydrated beef burger

Vacuum packed, dehydrated burger for astronaut consumption, c. 1995-1999.

Astronauts on the Space Shuttle had access to different types of food. This vacuum sealed, dehydrated beef burger was part of a menu of over 100 items that astronauts could choose during the Space Shuttle missions, which ran between 1981 -2011.

Space food on the Shuttle was prepared and preserved in different ways. Some were thermostabilised, which means they were blasted with heat to kill bacteria. Others were freeze-dried.

The most popular method was dehydration, as water was freely available on board as a by-product of fuel cells. Around 80% of liquid content is removed during dehydration, making food lighter to carry and extending its shelf life.

The pouches worked by adding water and waiting for the food to be reconstituted. After that, astronauts opened the pouch with scissors and used a spoon to eat.

The label at the top indicates the amount of water and preparation time, while the barcode, which was added for the Space Shuttle missions, allowed scientists back on Earth to track astronauts’ food consumption. The Velcro circle on the left-hand side was for the food to be stored neatly without it floating away. During this time, NASA coded the food packaging to determine who it was destined for, blue for the mission specialist, red for the mission pilot and yellow for the mission commander.

Cyrillic translations were added to the labels so that cosmonauts from Russia could also read the information, indicating an era of wider collaboration.