The 7-Ingredient Salad Astronauts Eat In Deep Space

If you think surviving on ramen during your college days was the ultimate culinary low of your life, think about what the astronauts somersaulting in the International Space Station eat. While the menu doesn't look all too shabby for the microgravity zone (they have thermostabilized or freeze-dried brownies, M&M's, spaghetti, chicken, space tacos, and even beef), eating can be quite a challenge. The food itself doesn't taste so great and can be bland.

Space food may not taste out of this world, but the astronauts make the best of what they have at their disposal. And how many of us can boast about having pizza night in space? The Expedition 53 crew even played catch with their floating pizzas (via YouTube).

Believe it or not, they also have salad in space. A team of researchers led by the University of Adelaide developed the "Space Salad" recipe to deliver optimum nutritional benefits for the rocketeers. It uses seven ingredients — poppy seeds, soybeans, kale, barley, peanuts, sweet potatoes, and sunflower seeds. No word on the availability of Space Ranch, but in all fairness, the salad doesn't look half bad.

Research scientist Shu Liang, who worked on the research at the University of Nottingham, suggested that the research team took into consideration all the factors like taste and the possibility of growing the ingredients in space to create the space salad. "As well as the nutritional values and ability to grow the plants in space we also looked at other important aspects of a space diet to promote astronaut well-being including colour, taste and eating together," she added, per the University of Adelaide.

According to Astronomy, the team is working to amplify the ingredients' nutritional value while also exploring ways to efficiently farm them in limited space. As for how the space salad tastes, one of the volunteers who tasted the space salad as a part of a food psychology test noted how they "wouldn't mind eating this all week as an astronaut."

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Netizens have already started recreating the recipe and sharing the outcomes online. TikToker @thesaladlab took their followers through the whole process in a video. The verdict on the taste? It's "not bad." Fellow TikTokers had mixed feelings about it. "This looks like the kind of thing Tom Brady would eat as a cheat meal and that is how I know it's not for me," one user wrote. "Undressed salads are just depressing. Good thing I'm not going to Mars," another remarked.