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Recently-married Jewish couple Ian and Jordana Fichtenbaum’s combined passion for the space industry and for offering warm hospitality is set to launch into orbit, more than 400 kilometers above their Manhattan home.

The husband-and-wife team are the entrepreneurs and co-chefs behind the Zero G Kitchen Space Oven, an insulated container designed to hold and bake food samples in the micro-gravity environment of the International Space Station (ISS).

Their prototype oven – together with a batch of cookie dough from DoubleTree by Hilton – will be launched into space later this year to become the very first food to be baked in orbit, the Fichtenbaums told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

Built in collaboration with NanoRacks, a provider of commercial access to space, the couple aims to make space travel more comfortable for astronauts spending months onboard the ISS.

“On the space station, there is very important equipment which is used for scientific and other investigations, but the general public cannot relate to a lot of it,” said Ian.

“What laboratory do most of us have in our own homes? A kitchen. We’re inviting people to use something familiar, an oven and hopefully other kitchen appliances, on the space station and other space platforms in the coming months and years.”

Since convection heat transfer is difficult of impossible in zero gravity, Ian said, the oven relies on electric heating elements similar to that found in a toaster oven. The device is powered by electricity drawn from the ISS’s internal power system. The oven can be adapted to provide grilling, pan cook and griddle modes of cooking, all in a micro-gravity environment.

Small food samples are be placed in a tray where they are held steady inside the oven while baking occurs.

While introducing a high heat device into the ISS might have caused concern for space authorities, Ian said that working with the experienced team at NanoRacks enabled the oven to quickly receive the necessary safety approvals from NASA.

“The oven has been handed over to NASA for transport, and we’re very pleased that the first food sample will be a DoubleTree cookie,” he added.

While 91-year-old former Hilton Hotels Corporation president and CEO Barron Hilton is yet to realize his 1967 dream of opening a hotel on the Moon, the hotel brand will become the first hospitality company to participate in research aboard the space station.

“Hilton has long been an industry innovator, and as we celebrate our 100th year, we’re excited to send our hospitality into orbit,” said senior vice president and global brand head Shawn McAteer.

From NASA Image of the Day; October 2, 2018:

Astronaut Ricky Arnold Works With a Student-Designed Experiment

International Space Station astronaut Ricky Arnold works with a student-designed experiment using NanoRacks commercial science hardware. The study is researching the impacts of microgravity on tissue regeneration, concrete properties, antibiotics, and the growth of plant, fungi and bacteria. The research introduces students to the principles of space science possibly leading to a career as scientists.

Today, NASA celebrates the conclusion of the Year of Education on Station (YES) - a year in which astronauts and former teachers Joe Acaba and Arnold made the International Space Station their home**. While on board, **they shared their love of STEM and their passion for teaching. YES activities have provided opportunities for hundreds of students and educators to speak directly with astronauts in space, and thousands more to participate through NASA partnerships.

Watch "STEMonstration" videos: new educational demonstrations filmed by astronauts in orbit.

NanoRacks and Boeing team up to develop first commerical airlock for ISS.

To support the growing needs of commercial space companies aboard the International Space Station, NASA has approved a proposal by NanoRacks to develop and construct the laboratory’s first commercial airlock.

On Monday, NanoRacks and Boeing made a special announcement: the duo will partner up to develop a first for the space station -- an airlock. This crucial piece of hardware is designed to support the growing needs of commercial space companies aboard the International Space Station. 

Cubesats are all the rage right now and are the perfect tiny satellite to help open up space to more researchers. NanoRacks is one of the largest contractors responsible for deploying these tiny satellites into space. In order to streamline the deployment process, NASA approved the proposal to construct the airlock, which is slated for installment by late 2019. 

Deploying cubesats into the inky blackness of space will not be the airlock’s sole task. The new hardware will also support external science payloads, a feat which only two modules -- Japan’s Kibo laboratory and Europe’s Columbus module -- can currently support. Currently, these two segments host both externally-mounted science payloads and commercial payloads. These two types of payloads compete for limited space, so having another parking spot would increase productivity on the orbiting outpost.

The exact placement of the airlock has not yet been determined, and it will be managed by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), like all the science payloads on the ISS.  

-ALT