A Russian cargo spacecraft arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on Saturday, bringing with it nearly three tons of food, fuel, and other supplies for the current crew.
While much of the food will be processed and packaged, the spaceships that bring supplies to the orbital outpost often include a small amount of fresh fruit for astronauts to enjoy in the days following their arrival.
NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick shared a short video of himself enjoying a segment of an orange that arrived on the Progress cargo spacecraft over the weekend, and as you can see, the microgravity conditions offer a rather unusual way of enjoying food aboard the space station.
“We celebrate every bite with these infrequent treats,” Dominick wrote in his post on Sunday.
We recently received some fresh fruit via Прогресс and Cygnus cargo vehicles. We celebrate every bite with these infrequent treats. pic.twitter.com/ms63CWixre
— Matthew Dominick (@dominickmatthew) August 18, 2024
Over the years, astronauts aboard the space station have been researching ways to cultivate leafy greens and other vegetables in microgravity conditions, but most of the food they consume is still prepared and packaged on Earth.
Being able to grow fresh food in space is an important step toward the launch of human missions to Mars and other destinations in deep space, as it won’t be practical to pack all of the necessary food supplies into a spacecraft for such a lengthy mission.
Away from enjoying the very occasional piece of fresh fruit, Dominick, who arrived at the station in March, has been impressing earthlings with his photography skills, sharing an array of compelling images showing not only the station interior, but also Earth and beyond.
The Progress spacecraft will remain docked at the space station for the next six months. Crew will fill it with trash before sending it on its way to burn up during a rapid descent into Earth’s atmosphere.
