It features hot and cold water dispensers, a pantry, an oven, food serving trays, a personal hygiene station, a water heater, and auxiliary equipment storage areas. The galley does not have a freezer as in Skylab, nor a refrigerator. Preparation of a meal on the Shuttle is started by a crewmember 30 to 60 minutes before mealtime. A full meal for a crew of four can be set up in about five minutes. Heating and reconstitution of the food takes an additional 20 to 30 minutes.
Food needing rehydration is given hot or cold water in premeasured amounts.
Water for rehydration is given hot or cold water in premeasured amounts. Water for rehydration comes from the Orbiter's fuel cells that produce electricity by combining hydrogen and oxygen gas. Since water is a useable biproduct from the fuel cells, much weight can be saved by sending up food in a dried form for rehydration in space. To simplify food packaging a new rehydratable food pack design is used. The bottom of the package is an injection-molded, high density polyethylene base.