Making Space Tortillas With Astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti

June 28, 2015 7:21 AM

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is currently living on board the International Space Station for her long duration mission Futura. In this video Samantha shows us how she manages to cook one of her bonus food recipes in microgravity: a quinoa salad with dried tomatoes, mackerel and leek cream, all wrapped in a warm tortilla. [via TwistedSifter]

posted by ellieBOA (22 comments total)

This video is still fun even though Samantha Cristoforetti returned to Earth earlier this month. I was a bit sad when she came back though, because she's one of my all-time favorite space photographers.
posted by ddbeck at 7:41 AM on June 28, 2015 [5 favorites]

I'm with ddbeck. I miss AstroSam, and I hope someone on the next expedition is as fun as she or Reid Wiseman were.
posted by not that girl at 7:44 AM on June 28, 2015

I'm hoping that NASA has a good backup plan for keeping the current ISS astronauts well supplied given that the unmanned resupply ship just exploded on launch. Ugh.
posted by dyslexictraveler at 7:52 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

TORTILLAS WERE MEANT TO FLLLLLLY
posted by The Whelk at 7:52 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

It must be so hard to design palatable meals for a space station, where along with the usual nutritional demands I imagine you have to work with constraints like:

• Be of minimal water mass
• Be shelf stable
• Random parts do not fly away unnoticed only to be found six months later wedged in some instrument panel in a state of profound funk
• No more than two items at any meal are allowed to resemble baby shit
• etc...

posted by indubitable at 8:09 AM on June 28, 2015 [2 favorites]

Right place, right time, right person.
posted by Poldo at 8:17 AM on June 28, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm sorry, all I heard was "autumn tempeh risotto with salmon-rubbed streusel chunks"
posted by clockzero at 8:22 AM on June 28, 2015

Space, the final frontier.
posted by dougzilla at 8:40 AM on June 28, 2015

She keeps looking up at something. Anyone know what or why?
posted by notreally at 8:42 AM on June 28, 2015

Tortillas would seem to be an excellent choice for a 'food platform' in zero-G. They could easily be held in place by putting them on a 8" PVC pipe that has a metal screen over one end, and a low powered vacuum fan on the other that would produce a bit of suction to hold the tortilla in place.

Space Burritos are the future.
posted by chambers at 8:46 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's really surreal and amusing for me that she can just leave the tortilla in mid-air like that while she preps another package.

Also, I think this should be called a "spaceadilla".
posted by cyberscythe at 9:39 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

She keeps looking up at something. Anyone know what or why?

probably whichever evil alien overlord is compelling her to eat mackerel like it's something tasty and not something heinous.
posted by poffin boffin at 9:44 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

She keeps looking up at something. Anyone know what or why?

A monitor? Checking things are in shot etc?
posted by fullerine at 10:20 AM on June 28, 2015

Here's a comic about the history of space tortillas! With bonus Chris Hadfield Space Burrito video!
posted by moonmilk at 11:02 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's really surreal and amusing for me that she can just leave the tortilla in mid-air like that while she preps another package.

My favorite part of this whole thing was the constant juggling of the packets and tortilla as as soon as she let go of one it started to drift away and she'd have to finish whatever she was doing with her hands quick enough to grab it again.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:02 AM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

My favorite part was thinking, "oh noes!" when a bit drifted away, and then she grabbed it with a spoon and guided it back down to the tortilla.

Also, I guess you don't need hair gel in space.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 12:04 PM on June 28, 2015

That one little piece of quinoa is still lodged in an instrument panel somewhere.
posted by deludingmyself at 7:44 PM on June 28, 2015 [1 favorite]

I remember from the book "How Do You Go To The Bathroom In Space?" by William Pogue, that the Skylab space station had an air intake vent that would collect dust and food crumbs and all sorts of gunk like that. It was visible but for some reason not reachable, so it just got worse and worse as the station aged. I believe the ISS has cleanable air filters.
posted by traveler_ at 12:35 AM on June 29, 2015

Looks like there's a really powerful fan blowing towards the "ceiling" in that section of the ISS. Is that just to keep the kitchen clean?
posted by monotreme at 9:03 AM on June 29, 2015

"When astronauts started complaining about escaping tortillas, NASA engineers spent $1.2 million developing velcro flatbread that would be compatible with velcro already on the station. The Russians used two-sided tape."
posted by Brodiggitty at 10:59 AM on June 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Let us not forget that she brought the first espresso to space.
I'm really proud of this Italian woman, an excellent role model to young women everywhere.
posted by francesca too at 11:13 AM on June 29, 2015

mackerel like it's something tasty and not something heinous.

It is tasty and not heinous at all. (It must be an Italian thing.)
posted by francesca too at 11:19 AM on June 29, 2015