Kitchen technology has reached new heights. Astronauts on the International Space Station have made the universe's first ever space-baked cookies. The ISS residents said the chocolate chip cookies looked out of this world. The cookies mark a first in space cookery. They are the very first kind of food to be baked in space from raw ingredients. Astronauts' food is usually pre-made on Earth. The food is dehydrated or pre-packaged and is heated or warmed up on the space station. The astronauts said eating freshly baked food will make them happy while on the space station. It will be a comforting reminder of home. This will be important for astronauts going to the moon or on the long journey to Mars.
Baking the space cookies was not as straightforward as the astronauts thought it would be. On Earth, cookies take about 20 minutes to bake in an oven heated to 150 degrees Celsius (302 degrees Fahrenheit). That was not long enough in space. The first cookie came out totally undercooked. It was more raw dough than cookie. The space bakers turned up the oven's temperature and baked the dough for longer until they were successful. The fifth cookie they made took 130 minutes to bake. And the big question is - how do they taste? No one knows yet. The space-baked cookies are now in a laboratory in Houston, Texas. Scientists will test them to see if they are safe to eat.
