Here's What Stranded Astronauts Sunita Williams, Butch Wilmore Are Eating On Space Station

For past five months, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore, 61, and Sunita Williams, 59, have been stranded aboard International Space Station (ISS). While ir meals feature some exciting options like pizza, roast chicken, and shrimp cocktails, ir diet lacks access to fresh fruits and vegetables.  

astronauts’ nutrition is carefully monitored by NASA doctors, ensuring y consume enough calories to stay healthy during extended mission. food y eat is developed by Space Food Systems Laboratory at Johnson Space Center in Houston. menu includes a variety of items such as breakfast cereal with powdered milk, tuna, and even dehydrated soups and casseroles. Despite variety, lack of fresh produce is notable.  

“re’s fresh fruit at first,” a NASA specialist explained. “But as three months continues, that goes away — and ir fruits and vegetables are packaged or freeze-dried.”  

Life Rely on Packaged Food 

astronauts rely on se packaged and freeze-dried foods, which are personalised to meet ir daily requirements. meals can be reheated using a food warmer on ISS. Meats and eggs are cooked on Earth and sent to space, rey for reheating. Or items, like dehydrated soups and casseroles, require water from ISS’s 530-gallon tank. Interestingly, station also recycles urine and sweat into fresh water to ensure minimal waste.  

specialist emphasized that astronauts are well cared for despite challenges. “Nothing is left to chance, and that includes ir food,” y said. “To be accurate, it should be very clear that any weight loss is not due to a lack of provisions on ISS. re is plenty of food, even for an extended mission.”  

Astronauts Prepare ir Own Food

astronauts prepare ir own meals on magnetised trays, using metal utensils to prevent items from floating away in microgravity. Yet, recent photos of Sunita Williams with a thinner frame and sunken cheeks sparked concerns about her health. dressing se worries, Williams dismissed any notion of weight loss as "rumors."  

“re’s some rumors around out re that I’m losing weight and stuff,” she said during a video interview. “No, I’m actually right at same amount.” She explained that her appearance is due to fluid shifts in her body caused by weightlessness of space, not malnutrition.  

NASA’s ISS food systems stock approximately 3.8 pounds of food per astronaut daily, with reserves to cover unexpected mission extensions. system is designed to ensure astronauts have enough nutrition and variety to sustain long missions in space.