Scientists design space food menu for Mars missions

Ever wondered what astronauts eat while they're in space? Well at the moment, it's all pretty nasty and very boring.

But now scientists from Cornell and Hawaii universities in the US are planning to spice up the menu in preparation for possible future missions to Mars. They're looking for volunteers to spend 120 days living on space food and to come up with some exciting new recipes and cooking tips.

The volunteers will experience what life is like for real astronauts by living inside a fake space capsule and wearing space suits. They'll record how long it takes to prepare the food, how good it tastes and how their choices change over time.

But making space food is trickier than you'd think. It has to be high in nutrition, easy to eat in micro-gravity and would also need to last the 3-5 years needed to make it to Mars and back.

Eating well in space is really important because astronauts' bodies are under a lot of pressure. They need a good variety of food to keep their energy up and keep them in a good mood while away from home.

Match the words below to their definitions

capsule / experience / gravity / in preparation / recipes / tips / volunteers

describes something you do in order to be ready to do something else
people who do something willingly without being told to do it
instructions telling you how to prepare and cook food
get knowledge from doing, seeing or feeling something
the part of a spacecraft in which the people on it live
the force that makes things fall to the ground
useful pieces of information

True or false?

1. It will take three years to travel to Mars and back.
2. The volunteers will travel to Mars.
3. Astronauts’ food is tasty today.
4. It is not easy to design food for space.
5. Space travel places a strain on astronauts’ bodies.
6. Missions to Mars will take 120 days.
7. The volunteers will come up with new ways to cook space food.
8. The volunteers must be astronauts.

Same or different?

1. fake
a)the same as unusual
b)the same as real
c)the same as false

2. variety
a)the same as assortment
b)the same as alternative
c)the same as quality

3. reckord
a)the same as describe
b)the same as document
c)the same as talk about

4. nutrition
a)the same as starvation
b)the same as refreshment
c)the same as nourishment



KEY

in preparation describes something you do in order to be ready to do something else
volunteers people who do something willingly without being told to do it
recipes instructions telling you how to prepare and cook food
experience get knowledge from doing, seeing or feeling something
capsule the part of a spacecraft in which the people on it live
gravity the force that makes things fall to the ground
tips useful pieces of information


True or false?

1. True
2. False
3. False
4. True
5. True
6. False
7. True
8. False

Same or different?

1. false
2. assortment
3. document
4. nourishment