Earth-to-space delivery: ISS astronauts receive ice cream, flatbread pizzas

(Representational image)

New Delhi: On Tuesday, a commercial supply ship arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) two days after launching from Virginia, carrying all sorts of goodies for the six astronauts in space.

Apart from NASA equipment, of course, the Orbital ATK delivered a delicious haul of make-your-own flatbread pizzas and chocolate and vanilla ice cream.

While all astronauts crave pizza in space, it has been a particularly tough 4 months for Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli. He's been in space since July and has another month to go.

Nespoli used the space station's robot arm to grab the cargo ship, as they zoomed 260 miles above the Indian Ocean.

Apart from flatbread, the ATK capsule contains all the ingredients of a good 'Earth-style' pizza – sauce, cheese, pepperoni, anchovy paste, tomatoes, pesto, olive oil and more.

Cold desserts are another treat that astronauts desire, which is why the shipment also held ice cream cups, ice cream sandwiches, ice cream bars and frozen fruit bars.

As per the Associated Press, in all, the capsule contains nearly 4 tons of cargo. It's named the S.S Gene Cernan in honour of the last man to walk on the moon, who died in January. The experiments include mealworms and micro clover, sent up by high school students.

The supply ship will remain at the space station until the beginning of December when it's cut loose with a load of trash. It will hover close to the orbiting lab as part of an experiment, then several mini-satellites will be released and it will burn up in the atmosphere on re-entry. SpaceX, NASA's other prime shipper, will make a delivery next month, the report said.