1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,000
Many of us have only dreamed of going to space,

2
00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:07,000
but only a few of the best and brightest have actually had the opportunity.

3
00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:11,000
But an even smaller amount have spent long periods of time there.

4
00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:14,000
The experiments and data collected from these pioneers

5
00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,000
is helping scientists and future astronauts

6
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000
learn more about the effects of long-duration missions on the human body.

7
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,000
One of these pioneers that has spent significant time in space

8
00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,000
helping lead the way is astronaut Michael Foll.

9
00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,000
A veteran of six space flights,

10
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:33,000
Foll is credited with four spacewalks totaling almost 23 hours.

11
00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:36,000
He's also spent time on both the Russian space station Mir

12
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:40,000
and was the commander of Expedition 8 aboard the International Space Station.

13
00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:44,000
He currently holds the U.S. record for time spent in space

14
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,000
at 374 days, 11 hours, and 19 minutes.

15
00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:53,000
So who better to help us understand what it's like to actually live and eat in space?

16
00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,000
I spoke with Dr. Foll to find out how it works.

17
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,000
The International Space Station is without doubt

18
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:06,000
one of the most amazing structures ever built.

19
00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,000
Orbiting Earth some 242 miles above us,

20
00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:13,000
its stated goal is to teach us how to live in space for long periods of time.

21
00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:16,000
Although there are many areas of scientific study being researched,

22
00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,000
one of the most important is food technology.

23
00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,000
Understanding how the human body interacts with food in microgravity

24
00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,000
may be one of several key questions that need to be answered

25
00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:28,000
when we travel outside of Earth's orbit for long periods of time.

26
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,000
Who better to ask about food in space than an astronaut who spent over a year

27
00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:35,000
on both the ISS and the Mir eating a variety of different foods?

28
00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,000
Astronaut Mike Foll will give us a skinny on what it's like to live in space

29
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:41,000
and to find out how it works.

30
00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,000
Eating in space is a treat.

31
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:48,000
Basically you get hungry, you get thirsty just like we do on Earth.

32
00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,000
I think after the first day in space, when you get launched into space,

33
00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,000
your stomach lifts up a little bit as you float.

34
00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:59,000
And so for the very first hours after arrival in space,

35
00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:02,000
there isn't a desire to eat.

36
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:06,000
And that's because you're finding some vestibular issues, some nausea.

37
00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,000
But those pass, and they pass pretty quickly.

38
00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,000
In my case, two or three hours.

39
00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:16,000
After about two orbits, an orbit is one and a half hours, 90 minutes.

40
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:19,000
After about two or three orbits, you're starting to get ready

41
00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,000
to take off your space suit that you used to launch into space.

42
00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,000
In my last flight, it was on a Soyuz rocket.

43
00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,000
You get out of this cramped space, stretch out,

44
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000
you change clothes into something soft, not this bulky, awkward space suit.

45
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,000
And then you think about eating.

46
00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:39,000
There are many different types of fares, food fare, I mean, in space.

47
00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:43,000
On the Soyuz rocket, which is probably the most meager food cuisine

48
00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:46,000
I've come across in my career,

49
00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:52,000
the Soyuz simply has dried foods and juices.

50
00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,000
This food is really not made for a real meal.

51
00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,000
However, it's enough to get us by for the two days it takes

52
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:01,000
to get to the International Space Station.

53
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,000
You get to the space station after two days,

54
00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,000
and, oh, it's a wonderful, wonderful sight,

55
00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:13,000
because you know not only there are friends there,

56
00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:17,000
there's more places to stretch out and move about, big windows,

57
00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,000
but there's also food, real food, and they're talking to you about it.

58
00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:24,000
You know, they're saying, hey, what should we put on for you?

59
00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,000
And the first thing that came to my mind was I remembered my experience

60
00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,000
of Russian foods and American foods that we shared 50-50.

61
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000
Where do we keep our food?

62
00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,000
The red boxes are Russian food.

63
00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:40,000
The blue boxes are American food.

64
00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:45,000
Why do we have so few American boxes?

65
00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,000
That's a good question.

66
00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,000
I'm not sure what I'm going to have for that,

67
00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:53,000
but I think it's going to be American.

68
00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,000
Ah.

69
00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,000
I've got chocolate pudding cake.

70
00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:04,000
Not sure I want that just yet.

71
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,000
All right. I don't know.

72
00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,000
Let's try something else.

73
00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,000
One of the worst things to eat in space, but they still keep sending it,

74
00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,000
both Americans and Russians, they send crackers.

75
00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:16,000
And you eat crackers, and they go...

76
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,000
And you have all these crumbs flying out.

77
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,000
And the whole issue is to somehow put the cracker into your mouth

78
00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,000
and then sort of seal your lips around it

79
00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:28,000
and then crunch on it so the crumbs don't explode out of your mouth.

80
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:32,000
Tell me, does food in space taste differently than it does here on Earth?

81
00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:36,000
The whole issue of taste in space is one of, I think, research.

82
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:40,000
In my personal experience, I don't believe my taste,

83
00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:44,000
my sensation of taste really changes in space.

84
00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:48,000
I did notice on my first long-duration flight on the space station Mir,

85
00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:52,000
over time I started to want or crave salty foods more.

86
00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:55,000
So, Mike, when it's time to eat, do you guys, you know,

87
00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:58,000
all get together at the table, or do you sit by yourself?

88
00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:00,000
What's the procedure?

89
00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,000
Well, the most important thing I think anybody does in their day is eat.

90
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,000
And what do we do? We're social creatures, human beings,

91
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:09,000
and we like to eat together.

92
00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:13,000
And that's where social events normally occur, is around food or drink.

93
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,000
The same is true in space.

94
00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,000
And as the commander of the International Space Station,

95
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:22,000
I understood very, very clearly that I was not going to let us,

96
00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:24,000
just two of us for most of the time,

97
00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:27,000
Sasha, Clary, and myself, eat at different times.

98
00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:31,000
Because then we would start to come apart, we wouldn't understand each other,

99
00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,000
there wouldn't be the exchange.

100
00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:35,000
It would just be very, very poor.

101
00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:38,000
It's hard enough living for six and a half months in a small space

102
00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,000
with only one other person far away from everybody else.

103
00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,000
So I said, Sasha, we're going to have breakfast,

104
00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,000
we're going to have maybe, you know, a coffee break at about 11,

105
00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:50,000
then we're going to go to lunch, and we're going to have fixed lunch,

106
00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,000
and we're not going to let the ground bother us,

107
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:55,000
and we're going to make it clear to the ground we don't want to be bothered.

108
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,000
Then we're going to go to tea at about, like, 4,

109
00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:00,000
then we go to evening meal at about 7.

110
00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000
And sure enough, we then got this routine going.

111
00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:08,000
This is a good example of a space shuttle tray,

112
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,000
not often used, simply because the tray really is designed to hold your food.

113
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:17,000
Now, here in front of you, it's very convenient for me

114
00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,000
to just hold the implements that I would use to talk about eating.

115
00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:22,000
But actually, on the International Space Station,

116
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,000
or indeed on the space shuttle, there's so much Velcro patches around

117
00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:30,000
that you can always use the same food implements or items

118
00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:35,000
to simply stick your food to whatever Velcro is near you.

119
00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,000
Any wall, any surface generally has some Velcro nearby,

120
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:42,000
and it attaches just with a little Velcro circle.

121
00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:45,000
They always make a point on the space station or on the space shuttle

122
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,000
to have hook Velcro on the items that you would attach,

123
00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:53,000
and they always have pile Velcro on the walls.

124
00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,000
Pile is softer, it doesn't scratch your skin, for one thing,

125
00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,000
so it's just more comfortable to be around everywhere.

126
00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,000
And then you make hook Velcro the stuff that's just kind of small and specific.

127
00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,000
And so I'm holding right here minestrone soup.

128
00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,000
Notice there's a barcode.

129
00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:14,000
There's also soup minestrone, which is in Russian, and I read that for you.

130
00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:20,000
The barcode is used in the case that we have to do any food logging experiments.

131
00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:23,000
We know exactly how many calories, what the food value is of this packet,

132
00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,000
and we have food specialists who know exactly what's in this,

133
00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:30,000
all the vitamins, all the calories, fats, etc., and cholesterols.

134
00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,000
If we're going to drink water, for example, we would still log it.

135
00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,000
Even though there's no calories in it, we would scan the packet,

136
00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:39,000
and we'd fill it with the right amount of water.

137
00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,000
So we've been talking about all this food.

138
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:43,000
I mean, how do you control your weight in orbit?

139
00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,000
Obviously, you eat more or you eat less, and your weight will change.

140
00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:56,000
In space, the initial reaction, the first two days, is for you to go to toilet a lot,

141
00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,000
and you lose a lot of fluids.

142
00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:04,000
You probably lose 5 to 10 pounds just in the first two days, just through fluid loss.

143
00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,000
And a lot of the fluid is coming from your legs.

144
00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,000
It's also shifting up into your upper body.

145
00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:13,000
And that's why when you see people on television from space,

146
00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,000
they kind of have slightly puffed-up cheeks.

147
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:19,000
I do believe we actually lose that fluid shift somewhat in our faces,

148
00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,000
because we've basically just lost fluid.

149
00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:25,000
So that's a change in the body, and so you have lost weight at that point.

150
00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,000
And we measure our mass every two weeks.

151
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:33,000
And the first month of my flight, we talk to our flight surgeons, our doctors, every week,

152
00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:35,000
about how things are going, and generally it's always,

153
00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:38,000
how you're doing, you know, nothing's wrong, etc.

154
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:46,000
They want us to eat enough so that our mass, our weight on Earth, stays the same.

155
00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,000
And they know that when you come back to Earth, those astronauts,

156
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:54,000
and we've had many different types of flight, many different cases,

157
00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:59,000
those astronauts that have not kept their weight on orbit, but have lost weight,

158
00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,000
do very poorly recovering on Earth.

159
00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,000
They don't get their fluids back into their body quick enough.

160
00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,000
They aren't strong enough to move around easily.

161
00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:12,000
So I was being told by my flight surgeon, Mike, eat.

162
00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:15,000
And I went, yes, I will.

163
00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,000
So it was simply a license to eat.

164
00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,000
So that's how it works.

165
00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:24,000
So if you're into really expensive takeout, I've got the stuff for you.

166
00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,000
Mmm, minestrone.

167
00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,000
That's all for this edition of NASA's Destination Tomorrow.

168
00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,000
I'm Cara O'Brien.

169
00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:33,000
For all of us here at NASA, we'll see you next time.