This summer, several specially made jars of a Maine made jam are going to the space station. Flight Engineer Christopher J. Cassidy claims York, Maine, as his hometown, as does this rather delicious jam.
Of course, sending a jar of jam into space presented the company with some unique packing challenges.
“Our Wild Maine Blueberry Jam is produced in a glass jar, but for safety reasons we couldn’t send glass into space. We also needed to find a suitable replacement that could withstand our hot fill required for shelf stability,” said Somers. “Our R&D team sourced a natural polypropylene container and used a metal plastisol lined cap. Since this is not our standard packaging, we put our label on the front of the package to make it look like it’s from home. We loved creating a custom jam for space travel.”
You can read the full press release on their website, and comments from NASA concerning the special food orders at The Portland Press Herald.
This got me thinking about what treat from home I would want, were I on the Space Station for months at a time. Assuming that I was already getting regular video chats with my family, it’s hard to pin point just what I would want. My snack of choice is Twizzlers, but that smell in such a confined area does not appeal to me. My favorite soda from England, Dandelion and Burdock, would be nice, but it does tend to produce a lot of gas. Skittles, because how fun would it be to “taste the rainbow” while looking down at Earth instead of up at the sky. My husband would like space ice cream, because as he says “they probably don’t get that out there!”
No, final answer, it would have to be Robertson’s Marmalade, a taste of home, a taste of my childhood, and some darn good marmalade! GeekMom Jackie would like Taylor Ham, while GeekMom Cathe opts for a picture of her family, and a device on which to play her audiobooks. Excellent choices, but add my old copy of Pride and Prejudice
What would you want sent to you on the space station?
