digestion in space

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Brian Gaff - 25 Mar 2007 09:38 GMT

I was suffering indigestion last night and it made me wonder how weightless
food gets digested. Are there any problems?I mean obviously once in the
intestines its all OK, but when its floating around in the stomach, It must
be a bit like any liquid or solid, ie, um floating and bouncing around as
the body moves.

Brian

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hallerb@aol.com - 25 Mar 2007 21:25 GMT

> I was suffering indigestion last night and it made me wonder how weightless
> food gets digested. Are there any problems?I mean obviously once in the
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
> in the display name may be lost.

you can eat hanging upside down, this was tested before the first
human in space. the body keeps things moving fine, the stomach is a
big muscle that forces the food the right direction

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Cruithne3753 - 26 Mar 2007 02:25 GMT

> you can eat hanging upside down, this was tested before the first
> human in space. the body keeps things moving fine, the stomach is a
> big muscle that forces the food the right direction

I hope they remembered to turn up the right way again when it eventually
made its way out the other end... :-)

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Greg D. Moore (Strider) - 28 Mar 2007 04:59 GMT

On Mar 25, 3:38?am, "Brian Gaff" <bria...@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote:

> I was suffering indigestion last night and it made me wonder how
> weightless
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> Note:- In order to reduce spam, any email without 'Brian Gaff'
> in the display name may be lost.

you can eat hanging upside down, this was tested before the first
human in space. the body keeps things moving fine, the stomach is a
big muscle that forces the food the right direction

Hell that was tested by 10 year olds at summer camp.

However, the one test I'm aware of that between Pepsi and Coke reportedly
left the astronauts a bit uncomfortable since the carbonation was sort of
stuck in the stomach for a bit w/o gravity to help settle things out.

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Jeff Findley - 28 Mar 2007 14:53 GMT

> However, the one test I'm aware of that between Pepsi and Coke reportedly
> left the astronauts a bit uncomfortable since the carbonation was sort of
> stuck in the stomach for a bit w/o gravity to help settle things out.

Coke and Pepsi made a big deal about developing dispensors for their
products that would work in zero gravity.

From the Coca-Cola Company website:

On July 12, 1985, Coca-Cola® became the first soft drink to be
consumed in space when astronauts tested the "Coca-Cola® Space
Can" aboard Space Shuttle Challenger. Working with NASA, The
Coca-Cola Company invested more than $250,000 in the initial
development of the space can technology.

From the Pepsi Company website:

The cola war takes "one giant sip for mankind," when a Pepsi
"space can" is successfully tested aboard the space shuttle.

From Space.com (MirCorp's Future Is Barometer For Space Business By Mary
Motta Senior Business Correspondent posted: 07:00 am ET 30 October 2000):

Within the past couple of years, the station has scored a few
notable deals. Pepsi-Cola shelled out $1.5 million for the honor
of having cosmonauts open a can of Pepsi in space before an
international TV audience.

Jeff

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Space Forum / Shuttle / March 2007

digestion in space