Shaun Salmond through epals
	Sara Copland through epals
	Mélissa Arsenault (grade 6) - École Les Prés Verts, QC
	Jonathan Morin (grade 4) - École France Côté, QC
	Robert Wickstrom (grade 5) - Oldfield Consolidated, NS
	Katrine Montgomery - Sidney Street School, SK
	C.R (grade 4) - Hilldale Public School, ON

During the Mercury era, when space flight was very short duration, the choice of food on orbit was very limited and was available only as freeze-dried powders and semi-liquids in aluminium tubes. With the advent of the Apollo missions to the Moon, astronauts had access to a much greater selection of foods. Their meals could have included Canadian bacon, hot dogs, peanut butter sandwiches and butterscotch pudding. Since the 1980's many astronauts have been transported to space on the Space Shuttle. The astronaut menu here could include cornflakes, Granny Smith apples, soups, Teriyaki chicken, shortbread cookies and cocoa. It is important to remember that there was little room in these spaceships for a galley (kitchen) and certainly no room for an oven or full sized refrigerator. Much of the food was therefore dehydrated or thermostabilized. Once in orbit, astronauts would have to rehydrate their foods using a hot water injection system.

Today, during the long duration flights on board the International Space Station, astronauts have a much greater choice of foods and many foods are available in their original form (not powdered or completely dehydrated). The International Space Station, unlike the spacecraft mentioned above, has a full kitchen with a refrigeration system and a convection/conduction oven. As a result of having these conveniences, foods like cream cheese, fruit juices, fresh fruits and vegetables, roasted lamb and duck, beef fajitas, pastas, seafood and eggs are all available and appreciated by the astronaut crews.

	Connie Handley's class (grade 1) - Eagleview Elementary School, BC
	Lorne Goudie's class (grade 6) - Bishop’s Falls Academy, NF
	Norman Littlejohn's class (grade 6) - St Francis School, NF

Eating in space is certainly different from eating on Earth primarily as a result of the absence of gravity. On Earth food generally remains in our plate as we eat and liquids are easily poured into glasses or consumed directly from cartons or bottles. In a microgravity environment, however, there are no forces at work to keep food and beverages from floating. Left unrestrained food would float around the spacecraft making it particularly difficult to eat and causing potentially very dangerous situations if food particles are caught in shuttle or Space Station systems. 

As a result foods that might generate small particles are restrained in containers and foods like peas and beans are usually prepared in a sauce so that they stick to the astronaut's utensils. Also, astronauts use squeeze bottles and drinking bags with sealable straws to consume fruit juices, coffee or tea.

Katrine Montgomery - Sidney Street School, SK

While the Space Station astronauts have access to a convection/conduction oven in the galley (kitchen), most meals delivered to the Station are prepackaged. The oven is used to reheat the meals but not to cook in the conventional sense.

Elizabeth Tumblin's class (grade 3) - Athena School, PEI

Absolutely! Astronauts can have their cake and eat it too! They have even eaten muffins, cookies, and brownies in orbit. Of course eating any kind of food that breaks down into crumbs can be hazardous to the crew. On Earth, crumbs fall into a plate, a napkin and sometimes the floor. In microgravity these often-small particles will float. If they are not contained they can become lodged in the space shuttle or Space Station systems and even be ingested into the lungs of the astronaut crews. So great care is taken to ensure that crumbs are contained so that the astronauts can enjoy a well-earned treat.

Kakisa Lake School, NWT

Kernels of corn contain moisture, which upon heating to a high temperature changes to vapor. This transformation of the water from a liquid to a gas results in the expansion of the water molecules (1000x in volume) creating a high pressure in the kernel that causes it to explode or pop.

It is possible to heat popcorn in space by convection oven, as well as, by using lasers, and other kinds of heating devices. So the answer is "Yes" one can produce popcorn in space.

Answer provided by Chris Hadfield, CSA Astronaut.

Everything that we have with us in space has to be transported there by Space Shuttle, by the Soyuz or in a Progress resupply spaceship. The mass of any payload is an important consideration. The greater the mass the more fuel the rocket will require to launch and the greater the cost involved in launching. So, large items, like a conventional refrigerator are out. This means that all of our food needs to be kept at room temperature. So the food we transport to the Station is much like the food that's in your cupboards at home but is dried, sealed, or vacuum-packed, sort of like being on a camping trip. Most of it really does taste good - my favourites were tortillas with ham and cheese, shrimp cocktail, grilled chicken, oatmeal with raisins, and lemonade.