The 10 astronauts aboard the linked Atlantis and International Space Station got some time off Thursday to linger over an "all-American meal" of grilled chicken and barbecued beef brisket that NASA packed up for them, along with some baked beans and apple pie.

While the menu might sound almost too good to be true, space experts say those kinds of food items are not unusual for today's modern-day astronaut.

Meals on the space shuttle have come a long way since the early days of space flight, when astronauts were forced to eat pre-packaged tubes of freeze-dried and semi-liquid foods, says Natalie Hirsch, a program officer for space food at the Canadian Space Agency.

"The first space foods were not very appetizing and astronauts didn't really enjoy eating them very much," Hirsch told Canada AM Thursday from Montreal.

Hirsch has been part of the team responsible for making sure Canadian astronauts stay healthy and eat properly in orbit. She says each meal is carefully designed to ensure it meets an astronaut's nutritional needs while still being tasty.

"One of the real challenges of getting food into space is making sure we have good food in space and that astronauts eat the food and that it meets their nutritional requirements," she said.

Hirsh showed off a selection of the vacuum-packed meals served on shuttle and space station missions, including a pack of rehydratable mushrooms and green beans.

While the food inside the package doesn't look great, Hirsh insisted that after hot water is added, the food is quite palatable.

"Actually, it tastes great," she said.

While astronauts once consumed their meals in zero gravity by sucking on tubes filled with semi-liquid food, that changed decades ago. Today, astronauts strap trays to their laps and use utensils and bowls just as they would at home.

"That's one of the advances that occurred during the Apollo mission was the introduction of utensils," Hirsch said. "That allowed the crew to eat more in space like they would on Earth. They can just cut open a package and eat it like on a plate. The important thing though is that whatever food is available is kind of sticky so that it sticks to the utensil," she said.

The other stipulation is that the food cannot make crumbs.

"You want to avoid any crumbs in space, because crumbs can be very hard to control in a microgravity environment where everything floats," she explained.

When it comes to drinks, there's more to choose from than just water; astronauts can even drink hot tea. They simply use a hot water dispenser to pour water into a foil package that contains freeze-dried tea, milk and sugar, and then insert a straw.

"The straw actually has a lock on it. That allows the crew to drink when they need to and then they lock the straw so the liquid doesn't come out of the package when they're not using it."

Space crews pick their menu items long before the trip, based on their food preferences and requirements. Shuttle astronauts can choose from about 180 food items and beverages, including scrambled eggs, shrimp cocktail and even sushi.

The Canadian Space Agency has just launched a contest it's calling "‘Canadian snacks for space." Canadians are being invited to nominate their favourite Canadian treats. Astronaut Chris Hadfield will then select snacks he likes and take them to the International Space Station on his next six-month-long mission in 2012.

The snack pick has to have a long shelf-life, so dried, canned or dehydrated foods are best. The winner will receive a photograph of the astronauts eating the selected food in space and a call from Hadfield himself.