A new Space Station Pizza delivery has finally launched with enough grub to feed seven hungry astronauts. The Northrop Grumman's latest space station delivery includes one of the treats earth has to offer, enough pizza for seven astronauts!
Space Station Pizza Kit
According to the story by The Detroit News, the company's very own Cygnus cargo ship has just rocketed away from the official Virginia's eastern shore. The cargo ship is expected to bring the International Space Station a pleasing earthly surprise.
The 8,200 lbs shipment would include fresh apples, kiwi, tomatoes, and of course, a pizza kit as well as cheese smorgasbord for the seven hungry astronauts aboard the International Space Station. This is reportedly the Northrop Grumman's 16th supply run faithfully for NASA and its very own biggest load yet.
Astronauts and Pizza
The company's very own Antares rocket was able to hoist the capsule from NASA's official Wallops Flight Facility. Northrop Grumman gave a statement through the Launch Control just minutes before liftoff saying Aloha to the S.S. Ellison Onizuka. Pizza, however, isn't that uncommon for the space station. In fact, astronauts were able to make a pizza in zero gravity back in 2017.
The capsule was actually named for Hawaii's own Onizuka, the very first Asian American in space that died in the previous 1986 Challenger launch disaster. NASA's other shipper, Elon Musk's SpaceX, will be expected to do another cargo run in a few weeks time. Astronaut Mike Massimino was so excited to eat a pizza back in 2018 that he ordered one while onboard to make sure it was hot and ready when he landed!
Who is on the ISS?
As of the moment, the International Space Station is the home of three Americans, two Russians, one Japanese, and one French. Going back to the pizza, this is actually not the very first time that a pizza has been sent into space. In fact, the first space pizza dates all the way back to 2001.
In 2001, Pizza Hut became the first ever restaurant chain to be able to deliver to space, according to BBC. The pizza was reportedly sent to the ISS on a resupply rocket. Although the delivery was pretty much an obvious publicity stunt by Pizza Hut, this actually cost the company over a million dollars and required a whole lot of special planning in order for it to be pulled off.
Pizza in Space
An example of this, according to ABC, is that the pizza was also seasoned with extra spices, especially salt, since it's actually known that a person's taste buds can become a little dull in space. Although pepperoni remains the company's most popular topping, the company decided to settle for salami since pepperoni did not really preserve well during the whole 60-day test period and grew mold.
According to the story by BusinessInsider, after the pizza finally arrived at the ISS, Usachov was caught on video happily munching a slice of the pizza. Despite the Russians getting paid for the pizzas delivered to them, the US crew were not allowed to eat any of it due to NASA's policy regarding advertising efforts on their spacecraft, according to ABC.
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Written by Urian B.
