Like most people who get an email addressed from NASA, Shianna Smart thought it was a scam.
“I was unsure if it was real at first. I was hesitant but then we got to talking with them and got more information, it was exciting,” the co-owner of Trails End Buffalo Stix, based in Gull Lake in southwestern Saskatchewan, said in an interview with Radio Canada.
She learned that Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk has selected the bison jerky from her brand to munch on for the NASA-SpaceX mission to the International Space Station which leaves on Oct. 1, pending final approval.
In 2013, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield had already snacked on the Saskatchewan bison jerky sticks in orbit, while the business was under previous ownership.
“I knew it had been gone to space … but I never thought we will be asked again so that was pretty exciting,” says Smart.
She hopes the space-bound jerky can show it’s good for other destinations.
“I am hoping lots of people out there see it and realize that it will be great to take for my kids’ lunches, sports or travelling,” she said.
The jerky went through a selection process from the CSA and NASA before it was approved to reach past the stratosphere.
NASA provides about three-quarters of the food but astronauts can customize the remaining food and the CSA provides them with Canadian options, according to Natalie Hirsch, who oversees operational space medicine at the Canadian Space Agency.
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“We meet with our astronauts when they’ve been assigned to a mission and we add what their preferences are and then based on that we’ll do that market survey to see what’s out there,” she told Radio Canada.
Other requirements include a shelf life of 18 months, packaging that works for space and a lack of crumbs.
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“Any jerky product, those products usually have a long shelf life which is a good thing for space when you don’t have refrigeration capabilities,” she said.
Local support is crucial for local small business like this one, says Nolan Langer, assistant plant manager at the Saskatchewan Food Industry Development Centre in Saskatoon.
The facility has been producing jerky since its inception almost 20 years ago, he says.
“It is because the Sask. food centre is one of the few locations of western Canada that does all processing for small clients, there is no other place that they can go, to do that certain work,” he says.
The Canadian products going to space can range from maple syrup from Ontario and Quebec and salmon from the west coast.
