Food on the moon

[wingerii]

Earlier this evening, I happened to be watching Iron Chef America on the food network (Battle: Turkey), and Alton Brown, in all his wisdom, imparted to the audience that turkey was the first food eaten by man on the moon.

This intrigued me, but cursory googling hasn't turned up any references to it. I did, however, find a site that said the first food consumed on the moon was, in fact, Buzz Aldrin's communion wafer.

Anyone wish to clarify this little bit of trivia?

[PhantomWolf]

This intrigued me, but cursory googling hasn't turned up any references to it. I did, however, find a site that said the first food consumed on the moon was, in fact, Buzz Aldrin's communion wafer.

It's true. Buzz took communion on the moon shortly after they landed, though at the time they didn't publicise the fact. This was due to NASA being taken to court over the Apollo 8 Astronauts reading passages from Genesis during the Christmas broadcast.

[Kiwi]

The turkey could be just another urban myth, but Buzz's communion wafer certainly appears to be the first thing eaten on the moon provided they had nothing else to eat before the meal that followed him taking communion.

The Apollo 11 Press Kit, page 126 (I can supply a 365 kb typescript of the text), says the menu for meal B on Day 3 was:
Cream of Chicken Soup
Turkey and Gravy
Cheese Cracker Cubes
Chocolate Cubes
Pineapple-Grapefruit Drink

But that doesn't fit in with a meal on the moon on Day 4, and turkey isn't included in any other meals. However, there was also Turkey and Gravy in the Snack Pantry.


From First on the Moon -- A Voyage with Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr, written with Gene Farmer and Dora Jane Hamblin, epilogue by Arthur C. Clark. Michael Joseph Ltd, London (1970), page 251:

EAGLE (Aldrin): Roger. This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours, and to give thanks in his or her own way.

Buzz Aldrin had a special reason for wanting a little quiet; he had something very personal to do now, inside Eagle's cabin. After Mike Collins in Columbia had passed overhead, on the first lunar revolution following Eagle's touchdown, it was apparent that Eagle was going to be on the moon for some time. Aldrin had a small table in front of the abort guidance computer, and he had that little wine chalice, the one Dean Woodruff had given him, in his personal preference kit. He did not have a Bible with him, but he had written down some passages he liked, including one his minister used during the Communion service at Webster Presbyterian Church: I am the vine and you are the branches... Without Me you can do nothing at all.

Aldrin requested air-to-ground silence and celebrated one of the strangest Communions in the history of the Christian religion. He said later, "I would like to have observed just how the wine poured in that environment, but it wasn't pertinent at that particular time. It wasn't important how it got into the cup; it was important only to get it there. I offered some private prayers, but I found later that thoughts and feelings came into my memory rather than words. I was not so selfish as to include my family, or so spacious as to include the fate of the world. I was thinking more about our particular task, and the challenge, and the opportunity that had been given me. It was my hope that people would keep this whole event in their minds and see, beyond minor details and technical achievements, a deeper meaning behind it all -- a challenge, a quest, the human need to do these things."

[Buzz was an elder of the Webster Presbyterian Church -- page 227.]


From the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal,
www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/frame.html
Apollo 11 / Post-landing Activities:

105:25:38 Aldrin: Roger. This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way. Over.

105:26:08 Garriott: Roger, Tranquility Base.

[Long Comm Break]

[As he describes in his book "Return to Earth", Buzz is taking communion.]

[Aldrin - "A critical item of avoidance was one of adverse publicity from people like Madalyn Murray O'Hair (a militant atheist of the time who was then involved in a legal battle with NASA over the reading from Genesis by the Apollo 8 crew). But I think enough time has passed. I think it projects a positive image, (even though) it might not be my choice, now, of something to do during that time period."]

[Eventually, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Mrs. O'Hair's Apollo 8 lawsuit.]

[The following pair of lines are produced by an unintentional keying of the microphones. The crew is in the "Push to Talk" communications mode. Each is wearing a "Snoopy" helmet and a mike but, in order to talk, must push a button on the cable linking them to the comm panel or must squeeze a trigger on the handcontroller. The cable button is velcroed on their thigh and, if they bend forward, it's possible to press it accidentally.]

105:35:03 Aldrin: That's about ready to fall off.

105:35:07 Armstrong: As a matter of fact, it just doesn't look like it sunk in at all.

[Armstrong - "I think we were grabbing a bite to eat, right here. Clearly, we were talking between ourselves about matters of the moment. But I don't know, specifically, what this was. It doesn't compute."]

[Very Long Comm Break. Garriott's next transmission comes at about the time Armstrong originally estimated they would be ready to start the EVA preps.]

105:47:17 Garriott: Tranquility Base, Houston. We'd like some estimate of how far along you are with your eating and when you may be ready to start your EVA Prep. Over. (Pause)

105:47:43 Armstrong: I think that we'll be ready to start EVA Prep in about a half hour or so.

105:47:50 Garriott: Roger, Tranquility.

[wingerii]

Wow, that's definitely more information than I'd hoped for. Thanks!