Ask an Aquanaut: Food?
Jamie asks: what do you eat when you are down there?
Dear Jamie
Because aquanauts live in a high pressure environment in the Aquarius undersea habitat, there is no stove or oven because of safety issues, but there is an instant hot water maker, microwave, and cooler (not quite a refrigerator). Most meals are rehydrated camping type food - just add hot water, much like what the astronauts also eat. Many of our staff are also particularly fond of tortilla wraps and we all love to munch on a few chocolate M & Ms between dives. On special occasions the aquanauts are treated to a diver delivery. During one of my missions we had a diver delivered pizza - though it did not taste all that great in Aquarius because for some poorly understood reason our tastebuds don’t seem to work all that well and most things tend to taste rather bland. But the view while dining is spectacular!
Thanks for the question….stay tuned, the next mission starts in about two weeks!
Ellen Prager, PhD
Chief Scientist, Aquarius Reef Base
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