Kimchi in Space

rtknox00 writes "For astronauts spending months in space, the smallest touch of home can make a big difference. So when South Korea's first astronaut Ko San boards the International Space Station this April he'll be bringing along a hefty supply of kimchi, the national dish of his native country. While bringing a cherished food on a long journey might seem like a simple act, taking kimchi into space required millions of dollars in research and years of work." Science may never get Thorramatur in orbit.

Uh

[afidel]

Millions? How many scientist man years does it take at ~$300K/year to study a single food item?

Well, at least...

[msauve]

it's not durian [wikipedia.org].

Re:What country?

[TheMeuge]

Where do scientists earn $300k/year?

In the U.S., you have to be a tenured department chair, with a Howard Hughes fellowship or the likes of it... in order to make $300k/year as a scientist. I figure about 0.001% of all scientists fit that bill.

Graduate Students: $0 - $25k/year ($40-60k/year in the industry, as a technician)
Post Docs: $25k-35k/year ($40-100k/year in the industry, as a junior scientist, i.e. technician)
Fellows: $35-50k/year
Assistant/Associate professors: $50-60k/year
Full Professors w/o fellowships, etc: $60-150k/year

The vast majority of all scientists in the U.S. have trouble making ends meet... not earning $300k/year... and I am talking about the BIOMEDICAL scientists, who are the HIGHEST PAID.

Food. What you are used to eating

[sakdoctor]

In my own experience, if you live in a place long enough you adapt to the food such that you feel just as weird going "back in the other direction". I remember walking around a western supermarket for the first time in years and thinking "Ok, what the hell am I supposed to eat here".

Time to adapt for me personally; 2-3 years, and 3 years tops. After that, no craving for food that you were previously used to eating. You get totally localized.

I guess my point is, instead of packaging food that is obviously unsuitable for the purpose (because it fucking stinks for one), why not train to live on food that is especially suitable for space flight.

Re:What about his fellow travelers?

[jht]

It's not about _my_ being ethnocentric - it's about trying to have a lack of ethnocentric foods in space. Astronauts should be screened before sending them up to see what you can realistically send up. Cuisine for spaceflight should try and match up favorably with the tastes of all the people on board, or at least be inoffensive to all of them. Kimchi might be perfectly fine for a crew of all Koreans, but I'm sure there's plenty of foods in Korean cuisine that can give a crew member a taste of home without stinking up the joint. If the Korean crewmember hates tomatoes like you do, then foods with a strong tomato smell should be kept off the ISS, too. NO STEWED TOMATOES IN SPACE!

/Loves sushi

//Likes kimchi fine myself

///Finds most ethnic cuisines to be at least worth a try

Re:Awesome!

[layer3switch]

That must be compared to what American culture turned Chinese delicacies into; the fast food junk that we know and eat for less than 5 buck a meal.

Popularism doesn't always mean right as Elitism doesn't always mean the best.

Re:Fresh Kimchi?

[Zordak]

I'm still waiting for the invention that they use to get the kimchi scent out of the ISS fridge.

Re:Awesome!

[Anonymous Coward]

Let me get this straight. A western chef is telling Korean people that kimchi should not be their finest national food of Korea? Another fine example of ignorant american trying to push his/her 'insilght' on what's better for other nations around the world. If he is so great at Korean food then do tell on what should be Korea's finest food westerners should eat? 'Agreenable to western palettes'? Is there such thing? Do you mean foods from McDonalds, KFC, Taco Bell?

There are over 1000 variation of kimchi and it has been made over past 3000 years. They are eaten with every meal, every day. It has no fat and many healthy vitamins.

You don't like eating kimchi then don't. Koreans will not force you to eat it and they don't consider it rude that people from other nations don't like it.

Eating kimchi with bowl of rice is better than eating your breakfast sandwich from McDonalds.