Featured Image Credit: iss/Instagram
It's known that the culinary options in space aren't exactly the most extravagant, but some astronauts are having to resort to soups made of their own urine to survive.
People have remained disgusted at the food offerings of astronauts since the first ever expedition into space, and while the 'perfect meal' doesn't sound too bad by Earth standards, it's not always what's on the International Space Station (ISS) menu.
Things, at least from the outside, have looked quite bad for astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams, as the pair have been stranded on the ISS since June in what was supposed to be just an eight-day trip.
A SpaceX Dragon craft is due to pick them up in February 2025, but many have commented on the pair's weight, expressing particular concern over Suni Williams who has appeared to be rather gaunt in photos shared by NASA.
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As if things couldn't get any worse for the stranded duo, it has now been revealed that they have been resigned to a rather modest diet, including cereal, dehydrated casseroles, and freeze-dried soup - only the latter is made with their own urine.
Before you recoil in disgust, this is due to the recycling technology in the ISS that turns the sweat and urine of the astronauts into fresh water, ensuring that little is wasted.
When a stay in space gets extended by nearly a year you are bound to have to make some concessions, but I doubt many would imagine that this would involve eating your own recycled pee.
NASA have assured that, despite not being the most glamorous of meals, the food available to the astronauts remains rich with nutrition and enough to sustain the health of those on board the ISS.
Each astronaut is allocated around 3.8lbs of food every single day, with plenty of reserves stocked in case of delays like the one occurring right now.
Suni Williams has quelled any worries over her health thankfully, expressing: "There are some rumors around, outside there, that I'm losing weight and stuff. No I'm actually right at the same amount."
Health experts have revealed that the likely cause of the worries is down to the calorie deficit that all astronauts will likely encounter, as you burn significantly higher amounts of calories while in space.
This affects women particularly more than men, which is why Williams appears to be more 'unhealthy' than her crewmate Wilmore, so it's good to know that the pair are going to be alright.
It must be hard going from a diet of pizza to one mainly full of pee soup though, but you can't ask for much better while stuck in space.
