Lufthansa Adds Astronaut Food to its Airline Passenger Menu

SPACE.com ^ | July 5, 2018 09:38am ET | Robert Z. Pearlman

[BenLurkin]

Lufthansa, Europe's largest airline, has begun serving some of its passengers one of the same menu items that it developed for German astronaut Alexander Gerst, who launched to the space station in June. The space food, now served at 35,000 feet in addition to 250 miles above the planet, is available to business class passengers on long-haul flights originating in Germany.

"Passengers will have the chance to enjoy one of the menus that Alexander Gerst and his crew will also be receiving on board [the station] as special highlights, chicken ragout with mushrooms," Lufthansa announced in a recent press release

The astronaut-turned-airline food will be available on flights in July and August.

On orbit, the ragout, along with dishes from Gerst's home region of Swabia in southwestern Germany — including maultaschen (stuffed pasta) and cheese spätzle (egg noodles) with bacon, are considered "bonus" foods, augmenting the daily menus available to the crew. Bonus meals are generally saved for special occasions, as a special treat during the crew's five to six month stays in space.

"We certainly want our astronauts to perform in an optimal manner, so we need to provide them support. One of the supports we provide is food," said Frank de Winne, the head of the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany and a former astronaut who logged almost 200 days in Earth orbit.

...

Lufthansa's limited time offer of astronaut food is the latest example of the space station's menu items being available to the public. Beyond the souvenir freeze-dried snacks sold in museum and science center gift shops, authentic cosmonaut cuisine has been sold in vending machines at Moscow's All-Russian Exhibition Center and Turin-based Argotec continues to offer through its website some of the same bonus foods that it developed for Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

[Moonman62]

The meals look like cat food.

...

Yep. A can by any other name is still a can. I think the treats we send our astronauts are much better.

[Pelham]

I demand to know why Pan Am does not have a rotating wheel space station in operation (and Pan Am having gone out of business is no excuse). I was sure, in 1969, that one would certainly exist by 2001, and instead all we get is that boring ISS.

No Pan Am space station. No monolith. No Jupiter expedition. We have been cheated.

[Moonman62]

I see 2001 referenced at least once a week on FR.

[Pontiac]

The space food, now served at 35,000 feet in addition to 250 miles above the planet, is available to business class passengers on long-haul flights originating in Germany.

I bet it taste better than the food I had on United last month.

Unfrosted Pop Tarts would have been better.

[Jack Hammer]

Tang and liquefied yams?

No thanks.

I’ll have the steak, with French fries, and key lime pie afterward, thank you. With a half bottle of Burgundy, if available.

[Buckeye McFrog]

At the NASA museum in Huntsville they have a fascinating display that details the bios of all of America’s female astronauts.

I was struck by how impressive the educations of these women were. Advanced degrees in physics and engineering from Cal, MIT, Purdue, etc.

Then you think about the one who threw on an adult diaper and drove from Texas to Florida to confront her married lover in an airport, and wonder “How does THAT happen?”