Space food has come a long way since 1966 when this photo was taken of a NASA test subject consuming a meal of pot roast and gravy through a feeding tube pack aboard a Gemini spacecraft mockup. Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images

In space, green beans taste like grass and sliced strawberries are repulsively sweet. Thats according to NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelock, who spent more than 178 days living and eating aboard the International Space Station and space shuttle Discovery.

The astronaut palate is a mysterious thing. Some say their favorite foods taste like plastic in space. Others say flavor gets better. What is undisputed is that a persons taste for something on Earth cant be trusted in orbit.

This is partly because the bodys fluids realign in microgravity, causing nasal congestion, says Pamela Dalton, a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Swelling in the nasal passage also obstructs the transport of odor molecules to their receptors, which, Dalton said, can translate to a 70 percent reduction in flavor. After a few weeks the swelling subsides, but some congestion remains.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield known by earthlings as the guy who performed a rendition of David Bowies Space Oddity while commander of the International Space Station said being in space was like suffering a perpetual head cold.

Imagine standing on your head for hours, he said. Its kind of like that.

To compensate, astronauts have been known to go heavy on the hot sauce. Wasabi, Louisiana hot sauce, peppery olive oil and Tabasco clutter the ISS cabinets.

The perennial favorite? Shrimp cocktail freeze-dried shrimp and a tomato-based sauce with bits of horseradish.

Its got a really strong, searing, wasabi kind of cut to the flavor that opens up the sinuses, Hadfield said. Moreover, the distinctive texture of shrimp that fibrous chewiness survives rehydration better than other foods.

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