March 24, 2009 -- NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus returns to Earth this week with a new skill honed during four months in weightlessness: orbital cooking. It started innocently enough: She took a can of Russian chicken with vegetables and added olives, sun-dried tomatoes and pesto paste. The result left a bit to be desired. "In the end, it was a mediocre product since the original base dish already had an overwhelming flavor to it," Magnus wrote in a journal she kept of her cooking experiences. Undeterred, Magnus pressed on, often spending her free time on Sunday cooking for her crewmates. "Whenever I cook, I know the guys enjoy just the different flavors and the different flavor combinations that I came up with," Magnus said during an in-flight interview. Related Content:
Among her more practical contributions to the culinary art of orbital cooking are tips for mixing (use sealed plastic bags), slicing (make large pieces) and keeping items in place (duct tape). "Duct tape is useful," Magnus wrote in her journal. "You can set it out on the table with the sticky side up. This works for everything from trash to onion and garlic peelings and lemon peel. It does get messy but you can roll up the used tape with the stuff on it, throw it away, and get out a new strip." Magnus got a few cooking tips from a former station commander, Peggy Whitson, who invented a way to cook the fresh garlic that regularly arrives on the Russian cargo ships. "To prepare garlic, and I have added onions to the mix, you keep some of the foil packets that the Russian dehydrated food comes in, put the garlic and chopped onion (large pieces) in the foil, squirt in some olive oil, fold the foil over to fit into the food warmer and turn it on," Magnus writes. "The warmer only works for 30 minutes or so, so every half hour you have to come in and turn it on again. After about four or five cycles, you have cooked garlic and onions." Magnus used the concoction with other condiments to make two sauces for tuna -- one with cooked onions and honey mustard and the other with onions, garlic, ginger paste and mayonnaise. "Both turned out to be quite good," Magnus wrote in a report on her cooking experiments. Get More NewsSpiders, Scorpions Among World's Oldest CreaturesMany creepy crawlies have been on Earth much longer than previously believed.Blood-Sucking Vampire Bats Sing DuetsWhite-winged vampire bats "harmonize" with separated roost mates.Oldest Hebrew Writing Possibly FoundAncient inscriptions on a 3,000-year-old pottery shard could make history.Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.A tuatara has been spotted on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in 200 years.Iceman Has No Living RelativesOetzi, the 5,300 year-old frozen mummy, left no living genetic legacy.SLIDE SHOW: Landscapes of TerrorWhat makes a place feel scary? There are scientific explanations.It's Official: People Are Warming the PolesHumans are conclusively to blame for polar warming, say scientists.Eight-Armed Animal Preceded DinosaursWhat may be one of Earth's first animals was no bigger than a coaster and had eight arms.Phoenicians Live on in People's GenesOne in 17 Mediterranean men may be descended from ancient Phoenicians.Pesticides, Fertilizers Linked to Frog DeclineA pesticide is found to promote parasites among amphibians.Hubble Telescope Taking Photos AgainThe Hubble Space Telescope is once again snapping stunning photos of the universe.Andean Mummy Hairs Show Hallucinogen UseScientists find direct evidence of hallucinogenic drug use among ancient Andeans.Opals on Mars Reveal Planet's Long Wet PastOpals found on Mars suggest the planet has been wet for much longer. |
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