China recently achieved a significant milestone in space when astronauts aboard the Chinese space station, Tiangong, prepared a full meal. The six crew members—from the outgoing Shenzhou-20 mission and the incoming Shenzhou-21 mission—cooked chicken wings and black pepper steak using a newly delivered hot air oven. The astronauts baked marinated chicken wings for 28 minutes before using the oven to cook the steak.
The New Smoke-Free Oven
This culinary endeavor was made possible by a specialized smoke-free oven.
- It utilises high-temperature catalysis and multi-layer filtration, ensuring that food preparation in space remains smoke-free and complies with the station’s emission standards for cooking fumes.
- According to Chinese state media, the oven also operates without stressing Tiangong's power grid.
- The oven's maximum temperature has been increased from 100°C to 190°C, allowing astronauts to roast and bake instead of merely warming prepackaged meals.
- The hot air oven is capable of operating for 500 cycles.
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Before the recent Chinese achievement, the International Space Station (ISS) pioneered baking in space in 2020. Astronauts baked five chocolate chip cookies in space using a special oven designed by NanoRacks and Zero G Kitchen. This marks the very first time that food has ever been baked in orbit!Three of these cookies were later returned to Earth via a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
Crew Handover and Delayed Return
The astronauts also held a handover ceremony on Tuesday to formally transfer the key to the space station to the new Shenzhou-21 crew, ahead of the Shenzhou-20 mission’s planned departure.
However, on Wednesday, the China Manned Space Agency announced that the return flight of the Shenzhou-20 crew was postponed. The delay was attributed to a suspected strike from small space debris on the spacecraft.
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