BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Eating Behavior
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1562044
Food Acceptability and Selection by Astronauts on International Space Station Missions Informs Strategies and Risks for Deep Space Exploration
Provisionally accepted
- 1Human Health and Performance Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, Texas, United States
- 2KBR, Houston, United States
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Characterization of the relationship between food system acceptability and repeat consumption within the spaceflight food system may be linked to caloric intake but the impact of food acceptability and repeat consumption has not been previously systematically investigated. In this study, 15 astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) reported acceptability of the items in one meal a week over approximately 6-month and 1-year missions. The results indicated that acceptability scores did not decrease over the mission. Astronauts limited selections to their personal favorites early in the mission and did not consume foods they did not like. Although they continued to like the foods they chose, many foods were not rated by more than one individual, supporting variability in personal preference. Intake of only liked foods from mission start may impact total variety and quantity available to each astronaut within the restricted system on ISS, which may ultimately impact total nutritional intake. It also increases the challenge for exploration missions, where food may be pre-positioned and personal preferences may not be accommodated. Astronaut comments indicated specific food types and strategies that may help improve food system acceptability for future missions.
Keywords: Space food system, Acceptability, Variety, Menu fatigue, International Space Station
Received: 16 Jan 2025; Accepted: 21 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Douglas, Bell, Roma, Oswald and Young. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Grace L. Douglas, Human Health and Performance Directorate, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Houston, 77058, Texas, United States
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