The conditions during space flights make it difficult, if not impossible, to do many things which we take for granted on Earth. For example, in conditions of weightlessness it is not possible for a cosmonaut to eat from plates or drink from cups in the normal way. At the beginning of the 1960s scientists had to develop a form of packaging that would prevent the food from floating away or splashing around, which is essential both to avoid danger to the cosmonaut and to prevent damage to the space station’s equipment. Moreover, the scientists acted on the assumption that space flights would be much longer in the future, and therefore the food would have to have a long shelf life.

The solution to the problem of space food was to package it in compact aluminum tubes. This kind of food had originally been developed for military pilots, who flew in conditions similar to those in space. On April 12 1961 Yuriy Gagarin had the chance to find out how convenient food in tubes was in space. On board Vostok-1, Gagarin’s provisions included tubes with sorrel purée, meat paté, and chocolate sauce. After eating, Yuriy Gagarin drank condensed water using a special mouthpiece. On that flight space food was proved to be quite adequate.

In 1963 the USSR Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Space Biology and Medicine (now the RAS Institute of Medical and Biological Problems) was established, and, along with other organizations, started working on the development of space food. The Institute’s specialists worked on extending the shelf life of space food, and making it more varied. In time, the range of space foods available grew to include several different soups (borsch, shchi and rassolnik being the most popular), meat purée, cream cheese, sauces, mustard, honey, juices, fruit drinks, and much more. Tubes of space food became a symbol of the Soviet space program, but beginning in the 1970s they were gradually replaced by vacuum packs containing dried food, which were lighter and more practical.

Currently on the International Space Station only four food products still come in tubes: honey, mustard, Moldova tomato sauce, and apple and cranberry sauce. Tubes of space food are much more popular on Earth — they can be bought by people looking for unusual presents, and can be used as provisions for expeditions to places with an extreme climate. The main producer of space food in Russia is the Biryulevskiy Experimental Food Plant.