Kimchi in Space: One Small Step for Koreankind

Required Eating

Posted by Ed Levine, February 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM

The New York Times reports today that the first Korean astronaut will be bringing some of that nation's beloved kimchi into space with him. The Korean national dish, a powerful, extremely pungent fermented cabbage, is not exactly shelf- or space-stable, so finding a way to bring it safely into space required a costly and time-consuming effort:

Three top government research institutes spent millions of dollars and several years perfecting a version of kimchi that would not turn dangerous when exposed to cosmic rays or other forms of radiation and would not put off non-Korean astronauts with its pungency.

Related: Space Food Sticks

Photograph from iStockphoto.com/bedo

8 Comments | Tags: kimchi, Korean, science, technology, weird food science

8 Comments:

A Korean mother will always find a way to send kimchi to her child.

wookie at 12:20PM on 02/24/08

Without meaning to cause offense, there's something I'm not getting... what's so important about sending kimchi to space that justifies several million dollars in expenditure? I'm guessing there would be other commercial applications for the research... like kimchi for camping trips? Or maybe even a case of national pride?

onedaylingers at 1:01PM on 02/24/08

Ever been in an airplane and have someone bring kimchi along for a snack?

Raphael at 1:11PM on 02/24/08

@onedayllingers--I'm Korean and I wondered the same thing. I read the NYTimes story using the link that Ed included and it answered some of my questions. I guess it's like any other aspect of the space program, nothing is cheap, but they want to provide the astronauts some of the comforts of home since space travel can be tough on them mentally. Also, there are larger commercial applications, think Tang. (I am not saying space kimchi is the new Tang)

wookie at 1:48PM on 02/24/08

Guys, the BBC reported this on the 13th. I love you all and Serious Eats, but you've got to start reading more media outlets beyond the New York Times.

MerMade07 at 6:04PM on 02/24/08

I think we do a pretty good job reading everything on or off the web about food. That doesn't mean we always get everything as fast as we should. We should have picked up on this story before, but some things do fall through the cracks.

Ed Levine at 6:55PM on 02/24/08

Um...why would kimchi turn "dangerous when exposed to cosmic rays or other forms of radiation" more than any other food?

kurteye at 8:35PM on 02/24/08

I'm not sure, but I think it has to do with the fermentation process.

Ed Levine at 8:58PM on 02/24/08

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