Your Chance to Try NASA’s Beef Pot Roast

Forget astronaut ice-cream: This pouch of Beef Pot Roast is the real deal—a leftover from NASA’s Apollo lunar program—and it’s currently on sale to the highest bidder in an online auction.

Amazingly unappetizing but wholly unique freeze-dried “moon food.” This particular example, labeled “Beef Pot Roast,” measures 2 x 3.5 x 0.75 [inches] and rests within a 5 x 6.5 [inch] sealed pouch to which a nozzle is attached. The label also bears the simple heating instructions: “3 oz. hot water. 5—10 minutes.” All of the food was prepared by adding hot or cold water through the nozzle. The food was then squeezed into the mouth through a flat tube stored in the package. Food created for the Apollo missions was preserved through freeze-drying and vacuum-sealing, resulting in a product that kept their nutritional and “taste” qualities.