From John Glenns mission to orbit Earth to the International Space Station program, space food research has met the challenge of providing foodthat tastes good and travels well in space. To better under-stand this process, we can look back through history.Explorers have always had to face the problem of how to carry enough food for their journeys. Whether thoseexplorers are onboard a sailing ship or on the Space Shuttle, adequate storage space has been a problem. Foodneeds to remain edible throughout the voyage, and it alsoneeds to provide all the nutrients required to avoid vitamin-deficiency diseases such as scurvy.Early in history, humans discovered that food wouldremain edible longer if it were dried and stored in a cooldry place until it was time to be consumed. Early fooddehydration was achieved by cutting meat, fish, and certain fruits into thin strips and drying them in sunlight.Rubbing food with salt or soaking it in salt water, an earlyform of curing food, also helped preserve it. Later techniques were developed for cooking, processing, pre-serving, and storing food in sealed containers. With the developments of pasteurization and canning, a much larg-er variety of foods could be stored and carried on longjourneys. More recently, refrigeration and quick-freezinghave been used to help preserve food flavor and nutrients and prevent spoilage.