The first food ever baked in space is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia — and it’s a chocolate chip cookie.
But, not just any chocolate chip cookie. The dough was provided by McLean-based Hilton, the same cookie dough used to baked the warm chocolate chip cookies given at check-in to guests at its DoubleTree hotels.
The dough was a part of a payload sent to the International Space Station in 2019. It was baked in an experimental microgravity oven provided by Zero G Kitchen, which is also developing other appliances for potential use in space, including refrigerators and blenders.
The cookie was a part of an ongoing NASA study that is looking for ways to make extended space travel more pleasant for astronauts.
The DoubleTree Space Station cookie returned from orbit in 2020 for testing by food scientists at the Johnson Space Center.
Its stay at the Udvar-Hazy Center is temporary. It will move to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in D.C., when its new building opens in 2026, and will be part of a new exhibit called “At Home in Space.”
DoubleTree claims its signature chocolate chip cookie recipe is a secret, developed in collaboration with DoubleTree chefs and Christie’s Cookies three decades ago. The cookies are also sold online.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
