Food prepared for space missions must meet multiple requirements at the same time, including safety, nutrition, shelf life, and the unique operational conditions of spaceflight. From the Apollo missions more than half a century ago to Artemis II, irradiation has been one of the technologies featured in the development of the U.S. space food system.

When people think about space missions, rockets, spacecraft, and advanced technologies often come to mind. But for humans to live and work beyond Earth, basic necessities such as drinking water, air, and food must also be carefully planned. An astronaut’s meal, therefore, is prepared to meet stringent requirements long before it ever leaves the ground.

For Artemis II, NASA’s crewed mission around the Moon in April 2026, four astronauts traveled aboard the Orion spacecraft. According to NASA, food selection must strike a balance between shelf life, food safety, nutritional value, crew preferences, and spacecraft constraints such as weight, volume, and available power (NASA, 2026).

NASA categorizes food aboard Orion into four main types: ready-to-eat, rehydratable, thermostabilized, and irradiated foods (NASA, 2026).

Among them, the presence of “irradiated foods” points to a story that began decades ago in the history of the U.S. space program.

From Apollo to Artemis: The Journey of Irradiated Food

Food preservation for spaceflight has been studied by NASA since the early days of its space programs. Food Service and Nutrition for the Space Station shows that later space food systems inherited many technologies developed through earlier programs, incorporating different processing and preservation methods to meet the unique conditions of spaceflight (Sauer, 1985).

Specific evidence can be found in Health Protection and Food Preservation by Gamma Irradiation (1976). This report, prepared by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln under contract with NASA and archived in the NASA Technical Reports Server, records that missions from Apollo 12 through Apollo 17 carried irradiated fresh bread. By Apollo 17, a sandwich made with irradiated bread and ham that had been irradiated to achieve sterility was also included in the mission’s food system.

The studies documented in the report focused extensively on fresh bread, a food susceptible to mold growth during storage. Gamma irradiation at appropriate treatment levels was investigated as a means of reducing microbial loads and extending the period before visible mold appeared on the bread (University of Nebraska–Lincoln, 1976).

This shows that irradiation had moved beyond laboratory research to become part of the development of food for actual space missions.

More than half a century later, the term “irradiated” continues to appear in NASA’s description of the food system for Artemis II. The technologies, menus, and spacecraft have changed considerably since the Apollo era, but the fundamental challenge remains: how can food be prepared to remain safe, stable, and suitable for a journey where storage and resupply options are limited?

Does Irradiated Food Become Radioactive?

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), three sources of radiation are approved for use on food: Gamma rays emitted from Cobalt-60 or Cesium-137, X-rays, and electron beams. Depending on the type of food and the purpose of treatment, irradiation can be used to reduce or eliminate certain microorganisms, control insects, inhibit sprouting, delay ripening, or extend shelf life (FDA, 2024).

The FDA clearly states: “Irradiation does not make foods radioactive” (FDA, 2024).

This conclusion is further supported by the IAEA in Natural and Induced Radioactivity in Food (IAEA-TECDOC-1287, 2002). The document states that there is no induced radioactivity—in other words, food does not become radioactive—when treated with Gamma radiation from Cobalt-60 or Cesium-137 at specified energy levels and under appropriate processing conditions (IAEA, 2002).

In addition, the IAEA notes that much of the irradiation treatment of food and agricultural products is carried out at facilities using Gamma rays from Cobalt-60. Gamma is a well-established technology, while E-beam and X-ray technologies are being developed to broaden technological options and expand food irradiation capacity (IAEA, 2022).

This places NASA’s story in a broader context: irradiation is not a technology confined to the history of the Apollo program, but a method that continues to be used in food irradiation today.

From Meals in Space to Food Technology on Earth

NASA’s story does not mean that every type of food needs to be irradiated. The technology is selected based on product characteristics, treatment objectives, and the technical, safety, and regulatory requirements of each market.

In practice, the FDA states that irradiation can be used to control disease-causing microorganisms such as Salmonella and Escherichia coli (E. coli), reduce microorganisms that cause spoilage, control insects, inhibit sprouting, and delay the ripening of certain foods (FDA, 2024).

Looking back at the journey from Apollo to Artemis II, what may seem like a small detail in an astronaut’s meal reveals how science addresses an everyday challenge within an extraordinary technological journey.

From this perspective, a piece of bread or a serving of meat aboard a spacecraft is no longer simply a meal. It is the result of a technological challenge that has been studied for decades: how can humans carry a safe food supply as their journeys take them farther and farther from Earth?

And perhaps that is one of the most fascinating aspects of irradiation technology.

A technology studied for journeys hundreds of thousands of kilometers from Earth is also being applied to a very familiar challenge here on our planet: how can we make food safer and keep it preserved for longer?

References: 

NASA. (2026). Artemis II: What’s on the Menu? Johnson Space Center Office of Communications. Published March 3, 2026; updated March 6, 2026.

Sauer, R. L. (Ed.). (1985). Food Service and Nutrition for the Space Station (NASA Conference Publication 2370). National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

University of Nebraska–Lincoln. (1976). Health Protection and Food Preservation by Gamma Irradiation: Final Report (NASA-CR-147779; Contract NAS9-11045). NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS), Document ID 19760018708. 

U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2024). Food Irradiation: What You Need to Know. U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

International Atomic Energy Agency. (2002). Natural and Induced Radioactivity in Food (IAEA-TECDOC-1287). Vienna: IAEA. 

International Atomic Energy Agency. (2022). Development of Electron Beam and X Ray Applications for Food Irradiation. IAEA-TECDOC-2008. International Atomic Energy Agency.