Pasta La Vista, Earth! Italy to study pasta consumption in space – AeroTime

Italy plans to send the approximately 3 kilogram Fusilli to the International Space Station (ISS) for testing and evaluation. The goal is to determine the best recipe that is suitable for microgravity conditions and meets the nutritional needs of astronauts.

The initiative is a collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, the Italian Air Force, Barilla and Axiom Space. The aim is not only to explore the potential of cooking in space, but also to support the application for Italian cuisine to be added to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list.

“We have been making pasta for over 140 years. This is a product with roots in the very distant past and is a symbol of Italian cuisine around the world,” commented Paolo Barilla, Vice President of Barilla Group. “Participating in this space mission gives us a sense of pride, gives us the opportunity to explore new frontiers in nutrition, and gives our astronauts a little bit of a sense of home. .”

The special package will be sent aboard the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft on January 17, 2024 as part of the Ax-3 mission, which will last two weeks. This is the first all-European commercial astronaut mission to the ISS, and will include former NASA astronaut and Axiom Space Business Development Director Michael López Alegría, Italian Air Force pilot Walter Villaday, and Turkish-born Mission specialist Alper Geselavju and Markus Vandt from Sweden will participate.

Because it’s difficult to boil pasta in microgravity, the fusilli sent into space will be pre-cooked and ready to heat and enjoy. Barilla’s research and development team ensured that the simple recipe of pasta, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt represents the essence of Italian goodness and remains al dente while orbiting the globe.

Pasta has a long history in space, with several records showing that freeze-dried spaghetti was sent to the Apollo missions. In fact, during his Apollo 12 mission in November 1969, Lunar Module Pilot Alan Bean specifically requested an assortment of spaghetti from NASA’s food team because he was on a special mission of his own. did.

“Spaghetti is my favorite food, so I wanted to be the first person to eat spaghetti on the moon,” Bean explained.