NASA is now using the TA.XTPlus Texture Analyzer to improve and advance space food technology.

The Space Food Systems laboratory, located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, has enlisted Texture Technologies’ expertise to ensure that astronauts are provided with food with optimal appearance, color, odor, flavor, texture and overall palatability. In light of the dramatic temperature changes that take place during a mission, Stable Micro Systems’ * instrumentation provides researchers with valuable, quantifiable feedback on a food’s suitability for space flight.

Long missions and stays on the International Space Station mean that variety and acceptability of food are important for astronauts. Following many years of freeze-dried powders, bite-sized cubes and semi-liquids in toothpaste tubes, a more diverse and interesting range of meals is now on offer. In order to make sure they will withstand the journey and maintain their freshness and taste, repeatable, quantifiable texture analysis is essential.

New space foods, such as the Space Food Systems Laboratory’s apricot cobbler, appeal to astronauts because of their varied and interspersed textures. Using the Stable Micro Systems’ TA.XTPlus Texture Analyzer, with its numerous attachments to gauge different textural attributes, we can ensure that the dish is perfect, whether it is served down here on earth or up in space.

Our technology is an ideal match for the NASA set-up offering precision, efficiency and controlled, repeatable analysis. Every attachment in our extensive portfolio of texture analysis solutions can be custom-made according to individual requirements. This flexibility provides innovative solutions for the complex quality demands in food texture testing. We look forward to helping NASA develop and personalize its menus further and literally taking texture analysis to infinity and beyond!

* Texture Technologies is the exclusive North America distributor for Stable Micro Systems.

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