時差N小時:太空中進餐 Dining In Space

In the 1960s, during the earliest space flights, noone knew exactly how weightlessness would affecteating and drinking.

早在20世紀60年代，也就是人類最早開始太空飛行時期，沒人真正知道失重會對飲食造成多大的影響。

Would food fly off a plate?

食物會不會飛出盤子?

Would astronauts have digestive problems, with nogravity to helpthings along the digestive system?

由于沒有重力幫助消化食物，宇航員會不會出現(xiàn)消化不良的問題?

The first astronauts ate rather unappealing food pastessqueezed directly into the mouth fromtoothpaste-like tubes. Yuck!

第一批宇航員所吃的食物是一些非常難吃的糊狀食物，這些食物通過牙膏狀的小管被直接擠進宇航員的嘴中。確實夠惡心!

Today, astronauts eat a variety of foods like steak, shrimp cocktail, strawberriesandbutterscotch pudding.

如今，宇航員的食物選擇多種多樣，比如牛排、基圍蝦、草莓和奶油糖果布丁等。

Each food is made as appetizing and simple to prepare as possible.

每樣食物要做的盡可能可口并且還要方便食用。

Steak,for example, is cooked here on earth and sealed into a reheatable pack.

例如，牛排會在地球上做好，然后封入一個可加熱的食品袋中。

Strawberries are freeze dried, keeping their shape and texture when they're rehydrated.

草莓會被凍干，使得再水化時能夠保持原來的形狀和口感。

It's easy to get water in space,because the fuel cells that supply electricity for spacecraftproduce water as a byproduct.

在太空中喝水很方便，因為燃料電池在為太空飛船供電時產(chǎn)生的副產(chǎn)品就是水。

Containers of food have to be taped, magnetized, or velcroed to trays, and astronautsusuallydine with foot restraints on-unless they feel like floating around!

裝食物的容器必須要用膠帶封住并被磁化，或者是用魔術(shù)貼貼于盤子中。宇航員通常在進餐時會固定住雙腳，不然整個人就會漂在空中。

There's usually enough liquidsurface tension to keep food in its container, but bump a plateor fork, and watch your dinnerdrift away!

液體表面的張力通常足以將食物鎖定在容器中。但是如果盤子或叉子不小心受到撞擊，你就會看到自己的食物開始四處飄浮。

Liquids are even trickier.

液體食物則更加復(fù)雜。

Juice won't pour out of a container, but simply stays inside.

果汁不會從容器中自動流出，只是會停留在容器內(nèi)不動。

If you shook it out, little globs of juice would fly everywhere!

如果你想將它搖出來，果汁會一滴一滴飛得到處都是!

That's why liquids are squirted directly into themouth or sucked in with a straw from a sealedcontainer.

這就是為什么液體食物要被直接送入口中，或者用一根吸管從一個密封的容器中吸出的原因。

Once food is in the mouth, there's noproblem swallowing or digesting.

一旦食物送到嘴中，吞咽和消化就不成問題了。