Today, NanoRacks is thrilled to share the news of a delicious partnership with Zero G Kitchen and DoubleTree by Hilton. About a year ago, Zero G Kitchen approached NanoRacks with the idea of building the first-ever space oven, with the ultimate goal of designing a full-suite microgravity kitchen. Currently, astronauts warm up prepared food on orbit – never before have we experimented in cooking food items from the raw. After numerous designs, prototypes, and engineering challenges, NanoRacks built an oven that would work without convection driven by gravity, that was safe for the Space Station, and that could be used for multiple food items. This experiment is the first step of many for understanding what it will eventually take to cook in space. Zero G Kitchen approached DoubleTree by Hilton with the idea of creating this first microgravity baking experiment on one of their world-famous chocolate chip cookies, and of course, the answer was YES!
 
Anyone who bakes on Earth knows it is truly a science – which means baking is significantly more challenging in space. How can we safely bake in orbit? How does heat transfer without gravity? What shape will the food take? Will it smell like home?
 
“The partnership between NanoRacks, Zero G Kitchen, and DoubleTree by Hilton presents a beautiful intersection between science, engineering, hospitality, and education. We in the space industry are talking about space hotels – and sure, we can engineer them, but we need the hospitality industry to teach us how to turn them into homes, into true orbiting Outposts,” says NanoRacks CEO, Jeffrey Manber. “We have some time before hotels in space are a reality, and that’s why the educational portion of Cookies in Space is so crucial – it’s today’s kids that will be running these space hotels tomorrow.”
 
Below is today’s announcement from our friends at DoubleTree by Hilton – and we hope you enjoy!