The smell of freshly baked cookies could soon be wafting through the International Space Station.
As humans travel further into the universe, the ability to cook food in space will become more important, a former Nasa astronaut has said.
With journeys into the unknown set to become longer, it will be more difficult to re-supply missions and carry everything on board.
But very soon the smell of freshly baked cookies could be wafting through the International Space Station.
A prototype oven with the ingredients needed to bake DoubleTree by Hilton’s signature cookie is destined to make its way to the crew.
If the mission succeeds, the chocolate chip confections will be the first food baked in space, Hilton says.
Mike Massimino, who was the first astronaut to tweet from space, explained the importance of the endeavour.
Speaking to the PA news agency, he said: “Right now we are at the Space Station more or less, and I think soon we will be travelling back to the Moon – to settle this time, not just to visit – or maybe onwards to Mars.
“As we journey further away it is going to be harder to re-supply, and food, for example, is one of the most important things.
“And therefore being able to prepare your own food, cook your own food – we have never been able to cook food from raw ingredients before, this is a first – will be important.”
But Mr Massimino said the feat would be about much more than just sustenance.
He told PA: “Part of it is the psychological effect of food, and I didn’t really appreciate this until I became an astronaut.
“When you think about sharing a meal with other people, your family, your friends, and what you are going to eat, it is comfort food, it reminds you of home.
“I think that it is going to be good for morale.
“And I think that will definitely be good on the Space Station and maybe more so on longer journeys into space that we will hopefully be making in the future.”
However, he added that it was not known how the cookie would react in space – whether it would be puffy, whether it would fall apart, or whether it would be the same as on Earth.
And, as might be expected of something cooked in space, it is thought the cookie will have a somewhat alien appearance, taking on a cylindrical form.
It is not known yet whether the astronauts on board the International Space Station will be able to eat the baked treats.
“If we are going to be able to go places and stay for a while, we can’t bring everything with us and re-supply as quickly as you like.
“So I think growing food and cooking food is going to be really important,” said Mr Massimino.
The cookies will be baked in an oven built by NanoRacks in partnership with Zero G Kitchen, which creates appliances for microgravity use in long duration space flights.
Which spacecraft will launch the oven, or when, has not yet been specified, but those involved are working towards the NG-12 mission scheduled for this autumn.
“Hilton has long been an industry innovator and, as we celebrate our 100th year, we’re excited to send our hospitality into orbit,” said DoubleTree by Hilton global brand head Shawn McAteer.
Ian and Jordana Fichtenbaum are the husband and wife team at Zero G Kitchen responsible for the space oven concept.
Mr Fichtenbaum said: “Opening up the frontier of space means making it relatable to people’s everyday lives, and what could be more relatable than a freshly baked cookie?”
In a typical convection oven on Earth, there is a continuous cycle of hot air rising and cool air moving in to replace it, setting up a constant flow of air in the oven that allows for even cooking.
However, in the microgravity environment of space so there is no “up” direction for the hot air to float towards.
This means you can only depend on heat being conducted through the air.
Bearing this in mind, NanoRacks designed the space oven with heating elements around the entire interior to distribute heat evenly and develop a pocket of air in the cooking chamber.
This will allow the oven to reach cooking temperatures while using far less power than a conventional oven does on Earth.
HOUSTON (AP) — Through 20 games, the Houston Astros have managed just six wins and are in last place in the AL West.
Their pitching staff trails only Colorado with a 5.24 ERA and big-money new closer Josh Hader has given up the same number of earned runs in 10 games as he did in 61 last year.
Despite this, these veteran Astros, who have reached the AL Championship Series seven consecutive times, have no doubt they’ll turn things around.
“If there’s a team that can do it, it’s this team,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
First-year manager Joe Espada, who was hired in January to replace the retired Dusty Baker, discussed his team’s early struggles.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It’s not what we expected, to come out of the shoot playing this type of baseball. But you know what, this is where we’re at and we’ve got to pick it up and play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Many of Houston’s problems have stemmed from a poor performance by a rotation that has been decimated by injuries. Ace Justin Verlander and fellow starter José Urquidy haven’t pitched this season because of injuries and lefty Framber Valdez made just two starts before landing on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut April 1, has pitched well and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. Cristian Javier is also off to a good start, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts, but the team has won just two games not started by those two pitchers.
However, Espada wouldn’t blame the rotation for Houston’s current position.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster how we've played overall,” he said. “One day we get good starting pitching, some days we don’t. The middle relief has been better and sometimes it hasn’t been. So, we’ve just got to put it all together and then play more as a team. And once we start doing that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The good news for the Astros is that Verlander will make his season debut Friday night when they open a series at Washington and Valdez should return soon after him.
“Framber and Justin have been a great part of our success in the last few years,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “So, it’s always good to have those two guys back helping the team. We trust them and I think it’s going to be good.”
Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract this offseason to give the Astros a shutdown 7-8-9 combination at the back end of their bullpen with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. But the five-time All-Star is off to a bumpy start.
He allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Braves on Monday night and has yielded eight earned runs this season after giving up the same number in 56 1/3 innings for San Diego last year.
He was much better Wednesday when he struck out the side in the ninth before the Astros fell to Atlanta in 10 innings for their third straight loss.
Houston’s offense, led by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, ranks third in the majors with a .268 batting average and is tied for third with 24 homers this season. But the Astros have struggled with runners in scoring position and often failed to get a big hit in close games.
While many of Houston’s hitters have thrived this season, one notable exception is first baseman José Abreu. The 37-year-old, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting 0.78 with just one extra-base hit in 16 games, raising questions about why he remains in the lineup every day.
To make matters worse, his error on a routine ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday helped the Braves tie the game before they won in extra innings.
Espada brushed off criticism of Abreu and said he knows the 2020 AL MVP can break out of his early slump.
“Because (of) history,” Espada said. “The back of his baseball card. He can do it.”
Though things haven’t gone well for the Astros so far, everyone insists there’s no panic in this team which won its second World Series in 2022.
Altuve added that he doesn’t have to say anything to his teammates during this tough time.
“I think they’ve played enough baseball to know how to control themselves and how to come back to the plan we have, which is winning games,” he said.
The clubhouse was quiet and somber Wednesday after the Astros suffered their third series sweep of the season and second at home. While not panicking about the slow start, this team, which has won at least 90 games in each of the last three seasons, is certainly not happy with its record.
“We need to do everything better,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of games, but we just haven’t found a way to win them. And good teams find a way to win games. So we need to find a way to win games.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Houston Astros' Jose Altuve walks off the field after striking out in the sixth inning during a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Atlanta Braves runner Adam Duvall, right, scores in front of umpire Tony Randazzo, center, and Houston Astros pitcher Josh Hader on an RBI single by teammate Orlando Arcia during the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, April 15, 2024, in Houston. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)
