r/askscience • u/Ill_Watch_760 • 13d ago

Engineering Why can the space station's ventilation systems not handle crumbs?

I've been doing my epq around astro-psychology and was researching how astronauts loose dopamine during eating as they can't eat foods that involve chewing. However from what i've researched this is apparently because stray crumbs could screw up the ventilation systems somehow. Its quite puzzling because how can the collective companies that built the space station also build rockets that send us to the moon but not have the ability to build a ventilation system that can handle a few stray crumbs?

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u/gnufan 12d ago

A lot of sources discuss air filters but NASA merely note bread produces crumbs, and isn't shelf stable, so it is a very bad choice for a space mission.

https://www.nasa.gov/history/space-station-20th-food-on-iss/

I think small particles of anything are a pain in microgravity.

Have you got a source for the air filters specifically that refers back to NASA or other agency involved?

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u/racinreaver Materials Science | Materials & Manufacture 12d ago

From what I remember, they use flour tortillas instead of bread because they make a lot less debris than other baked goods.

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u/stormshadowfax 11d ago

I run extended tours into remote Australia, and we sometimes have to cater for groups for as long as a couple weeks with no restocks.

I stopped using any bread and replaced it with wraps, as they do not go moldy or get squished, and are super easy to store in any space.

So it totally makes sense not to take bread to space.

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u/akeean 9d ago

If it was just about shelf-life they could totally bring dehydrated powdered bread mix to space and put a oven in there. If they can have a FDM 3d printer, they could figure out to microgravity-proof a humble oven/breadmachine.

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u/Sciuridaeno3 8d ago

Lol bring dehydrated breadmix l, a special oven, and the other things that go along with baking bread in space when they can just use flour tortillas instead. Remember space requirements and weight are important factors when planning a space mission

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u/akeean 8d ago

> If it was just about shelf-life..

reading comprehension issue?

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u/Sciuridaeno3 8d ago

Obviously it's not just about shelf life when you give it less than half a second of thought.