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How much Tang do astronauts drink?


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All of the beverages supplied as part of the U.S. food system are in powdered form and are rehydrated by the crewmembers on orbit using hot or cold water, depending upon the beverage. We currently have 49 beverages on the U.S. food list, seven of which are different flavors of Tang. This sounds like a huge amount of beverages, but you have to realize that this list includes coffee and tea fixed any way a crewmember might want it...black, with cream, with cream and sugar, etc.

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My late grandfatehr was a space program junkie who loved anything and everything associated with it. They spent the winters in Florida and he would routinely drag my grandmother along with him from the Gulf coast for a ride over to Cape Canaveral to see some of the early lift-offs.

Apart from the smell of Ben-Gay liniment that permeated their home, one of my most distinct childhood memories associated with that household was the ever present Tang. Despite the fact that everyone else in the family preferred real OJ, he drank only Tang for breakfast once the astronauts started drinking it. I'm amazed that it's still in use. Is there a freeze dried or powdered beverage available on the shuttle that more closely resembles real OJ or is Tang still the only option?

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Pan: Spray drying is a unit operation in which a liquid feed is converted to dry spherical particles in a single processing step. Its a commercial drying process thats used for all sorts of products, not just liquids for use in space.

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~gmhyde/433_web_pa...rying-intro.htm

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

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Thanks for the links on spray drying, guys! Fascinating!

Does reconstituted spray-dried orange juice taste about as similar to something like Tropicana not-from-concentrate orange juice as from-concentrate orange juice does?

Michael aka "Pan"

 

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