Pancakes in Outer Space, a Step Away from Putting the Idea into Action

A law student with a keen interest in technology and gastronomy is not your average type of character. But alas, here I am, alive and breathing, and constantly trying to find a balance between these three life spheres that are an inextricable part of my being. Now, if you find the idea of a foodie in outer space compelling, stick around and see how I plan on helping astronauts cope better with any homesickness they might feel on their trip to space.

I don't know about you, but I feel like there's no problem pancakes can't fix, and more so, there's no person who doesn't love them. Only recently I read that sugar, dehydrated eggs flour and milk, due to their lengthy shelf life at room temperature, can be easily shipped in space. And then it hit me, why not provide astronauts with the pleasure of eating America's staple: Pancakes.

Now, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that pancake flipping and gravity don't go well together. So it seemed as my idea would remain that, merely an idea, right until I stumbled across a video of the very first 3D printer for pancakes. Seeing a 3D pancake printer doesn't necessarily provoke an idea of making pancakes in outer space, but as soon as I saw that astronaut-figure come out, I knew that I had to put it in writing: Astronauts need a 3D printer like this one, and ASAP. I know I don't have the skills, nor the knowledge to create a 3D printer that will defy gravity and be adequate to fit the outer-space requirements, but I sure know someone out there will read this article and say: Not a bad idea at all, roll their sleeves up, and construct a space-suitable pancake 3D printer.

An alternative to the 3D printer would be a robot, or some kind of machine that would be able to prepare pancakes without gravity. There's just something funny in the idea of pancakes floating around in a space ship, so much so, that the Internet is filled with suggestions on how to prepare pancakes in Space. The answers vary from an Anti-gravity machine, to those that claim that actually a gravity machine would be a more appropriate choice. It's only logical to see the latter as a more fitting suggestion, but hey, I am not one to judge.

Curious on how to build one? Get your blowtorch and weld a plate to a pan whose handle you've previously taken off and cut three holes on the pan's side. Get three one meter wires and attach them to the pan from one sid, tie them together... and voila you have yourselves a gravity pancake machine. There's perhaps a way to use a centrifuge with a hot surface, and make use of the centripetal force, that way the pancake will get a cylinder looking shape, which would in fact be convenient since astronauts could fill it with whatever they want (or find handy).

Now, these all may sound a bit silly to actual scientists, but hey, don't shoot the messenger.
Now, this may be categorized in the science-fiction section, but at least I've spoken my mind, and I am convinced that one day astronauts would try and contact me just to say thank you for suggesting the greatest thing ever: Pancakes in Space.