<div><p>With all the problems involved in sending humans into the cold reaches of outer space, you wouldn't expect fine dining to be on NASA's to-do list. But at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, scientists are hard at work creating meals to keep astronauts happy and healthy while they're in space.</p><p>You may remember astronauts from your childhood slurping their food out of tubes, or eating freeze-dried ice cream, but science has come a long way through the decades.</p><p>Today, there are more than 200 items on the menu, each of which is dehydrated and stored in plastic pouches to be either reheated or re-hydrated - the only two ways to "cook" food on the International Space Station.</p><div><figure><a href="http://blog.asiantown.net/-/14430/ever-wonder-how-do-astronauts-cook-in-space" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/cooking-on-nasa-01.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/cooking-on-nasa-01_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w, https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/cooking-on-nasa-01_GH_content_650px.jpg 650w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="http://blog.asiantown.net/-/14430/ever-wonder-how-do-astronauts-cook-in-space" target="_blank">Asiantown.net</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p></p><p>You may worry that space food tastes like a futuristic TV dinner, but the astronauts seem very happy with some of NASA's creations.</p><p>Popular meals include the chicken-pineapple salad, mocha yogurt and the shrimp cocktail with spicy horseradish.</p><div><figure><a href="http://albanykid.com/2012/03/04/beyond-planet-earth-at-the-american-museum-of-natural-history/" target="_blank"><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/CC-1.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/04/CC-1_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img></a><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite><a href="http://albanykid.com/2012/03/04/beyond-planet-earth-at-the-american-museum-of-natural-history/" target="_blank">Albany Kid</a></cite></figcaption></figure></div><p>At the same time, astronauts do miss their fridge at home, which is why NASA lets them bring a container of earth food, like instant coffee, hot sauces and Kool-Aid.</p><p><strong>Click the next page to see the astronauts "cook" Thanksgiving dinner!</strong></p><p></p><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p></p><p></p><p>While most meals on the space station are just re-hydrated and eaten out of the bag, some astronauts like to get creative.</p><p>Flight engineer Sandra Magnus was famous for "hacking" the station's food heater for some creative meals, including roasted vegetables.</p><p>But in space there's a limit to how much you can play with your food. Certain items, like bread and graham crackers, are off limits because the crumbs might damage important instruments.</p><p>That doesn't mean you can't enjoy a nice PB&J sandwich every so often - as long as you're okay with using a tortilla.</p><div><div><div><amp-youtube height="9" width="16" layout="responsive" data-videoid="Z2szk-NuKWg"></amp-youtube></div></div></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p></p><p>Space food may never compare to a nice homemade meal, but scientists are improving their meals all the time.</p><p>Someday a turkey dinner on the ISS might be the next best thing to your family's back on earth, but until then we'll stick to real food.</p><div><div><div><amp-youtube height="9" width="16" layout="responsive" data-videoid="60fxGvNLFtY"></amp-youtube></div></div></div><p><strong>Could you live on space food? Share this post and let us know!</strong></p></div>