The Space Shuttle menu currently features more than 70 food items and 20 beverages. Shuttle travelers will have a varied menu every day for six days rather than the personal preference meals used in previous space missions. The primary objective in designing a food system for the Space Shuttle is to provide food that is safe and nutritious, light in weight and compact, and is packaged in a convenient form that allows easy manipulation in the weightless environment of an orbiting spacecraft. The History of Food in Space More than 20 years ago, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. His mission lasted nearly five hours and before splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean, Glenn and his Mercury spacecraft completed three trips around the world.
Astronauts can thus sleep in any sort of position regardless of where they are.
Sleeping in Space Sleeping accommodations aboard the shuttle vary depending on the requirements of the particular mission. The crew can sleep in their seats, in sleeping bags, in bunks, or by simply tethering themselves to the orbiter walls. Astronaut-physician Dave Williams generated a lot of Outer Space noise while he was aboard U.S. shuttle Columbia in April 1998. Officially, before this sleep study, the astronauts didn't know they could snore in space. Top of Page Keeping Clean on the Space Shuttle Washing in Space Water doesn't flow in a weightless environment, so washing hands is not as simple as on Earth where all that's needed is a turn of the tap.