Vancouver Consulate presents Astronaut food to H.R. MacMillan Space Centre

2 September, 09

"This is our space food," said Lisa McIntosh, holding out a box of what seemed to be a sorry looking sample of trash. Samples of dried food, designed for astronauts in space, had discolored with age and lost their vacuum seals after being handled by hundreds of children over the past six years.

We have tried everything to get new space food and have run into dead-ends everywhere, said McIntosh , director of Learning at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre in Vanier Park.

U.S. Consulate General Vancouver made a call to NASA (U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and told the space food laboratory about the Space Centre's dilemma. Within a few weeks a whole new space meal arrived, including mac-and-cheese and candy.

Deputy Consul General Kathleen Hill officially presented the package to Space Centre executive director Rob Appleton on August 26. Before the presentation was completed, children were running up to finger the new food. Holding up a bag of gray mush, Cam Cronin who is in charge of public programming said the six-year-old sample of beef and broccoli wasn't much of an inspiration for kids to want to go up into space.