When America’s space shuttles return to routine flights, they’ll be taking along a spicy meal developed in Iowa. Des Moines-based Soy Creations has developed a freeze-dried chili that’s won the seal of approval from a taste-test team of NASA astronauts in Houston. The dish will be added to future menus for space travelers. Katherine Carlson, at the NASA Food Technology Commercial Space Center in Ames, says the chili contains what’s called a meat analogue, something that “looks like meat and tastes like meat” but is actually made from soybeans. She says the space chili had to be altered a bit from traditional earth chili. Beans don’t freeze-dry well so it contains no beans. Carlson says it’s the first product NASA’s accepted from the Iowa company for its space menu. She says this product will be easy for astronauts aboard the shuttle or space station to whip up. To make chili in orbit, she says astronauts will only have to add hot water and stir it up.
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