Space exploration. Tube food for Yuri Gagarin. The photograph shows the tube food for Yuri Gagarin that was used during his historic space flight with Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961.

Description of the food tubes:
The tubes resembled modern toothpaste tubes and were specially developed for consumption in weightlessness.
They contained puréed foods such as meat paste, chocolate cream, or concentrated fruit juice.
Each tube had a metal cap with a small opening through which Gagarin could squeeze the food directly into his mouth.

Significance of tube food:
It was the first test of whether humans could eat and digest food in space.
The experience from Gagarin’s flight influenced the further development of space food, which was later optimized in more solid form and with special packaging.
The photograph documents an important innovation in early space exploration that laid the foundation for astronaut nutrition on subsequent missions.