The most expensive take-away is a gourmet meal to space

The Soyuz TMA-18M rocket is heading to the International Space Station, ISS, with the most expensive take-away. The trip also includes Denmark's first astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, who had requested Thorsten Schmidt to create a culinary experience that the nine cosmonauts and astronauts can treat their taste buds to while floating in a weightless state 389 km into space.

The made-for-space gourmet meal box created by Danish chef Thorsten includes something out of the ordinary and that which could be eaten on the Space Odyssey 2015 six months later.

Approved by the American space agency NASA and the Russian equivalent Roscosmos and the European Space Agency ESA, the meal was expected to be packaged in a single box measuring 24x22x12 cm weighing a maximum of 6.5 kg. He was also asked to make it such that it can be held for up to six months at around 25° Celsius and be able to withstand extreme shocks and meet a lot of requirements not normally met for ready-made meals. For example, the food had to contain a maximum of 10 per cent water.

Besides the menu itself, Thorsten Schmidt has also packed a treat for those in space in the form of a piece of gnarled, blue-gray chocolate that looks like a meteorite. Aptly christened Space Rock, it comes in different flavours. "I both hope and think they'll appreciate it. It has taken many hours of effort to create this dining experience in space. It's probably the Universe's most expensive take-away." The Nordic star chef also revealed that the launch cost alone for the takeaway-space-meal is about $11,500 per kilo.