Astronauts aboard the International Space Station face missing out on festive Brussels sprouts – to prevent a big bang.
Space chiefs fear the veg – a Christmas dinner staple – could trigger an outburst of flatulence. Not only would the pong linger in the cramped and tightly-sealed capsule 250 miles above Earth, but farts are flammable and could cause a blast.
That means sprouts are unlikely to be on the festive menu for the seven astronauts who will spend Christmas orbiting the Earth at five miles per second. Also frowned upon for the same reason are baked beans, cabbage and broccoli.
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Technology expert and TV presenter Maddie Moate said: “Sprouts have a tendency to make us quite gassy. And you wouldn’t want a crew of astronauts sealed inside the space station feeling uncomfortable because farts are flammable.
“So the astronauts are forbidden from eating sprouts.’’
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The problem of farting in space has long troubled boffins at US space agency NASA. In the 1960s experts produced a study of how the rectal gases of folk on a ‘space diet’ could create a potential build-up of expelled gases including hydrogen, methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide. They are produced by bacteria in the large intestine which break down food into amino acids, glucose and fatty acids. Gas is a by-product.
Irrespective of diet, expelling up to 40 trumps a day is normal – producing up to two litres of gas. But the report found ‘flatus gases varied widely within dietary groups’.
Vegetarians pose a particular threat. As the cellulose in vegetables cannot be digested, they produce more gas than folk with mixed diets. The research resulted in astronauts being offered a new bland diet specifically designed to reduce flatulence.
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Author Mary Roach highlighted the issue in her book Packing For Mars. She told a space nutrition conference the average person will “during the peak flatulence period” six hours after eating veg “pass anywhere from one to almost three cups of flatus per hour”.
“At the high end of the range, that’s about two Coke cans full of fart,’’ she said.
“In a small space where you can’t open the window.’’