posted 07-02-2024 06:30 PM               

Astronaut ice cream turns 50: freeze-dried treat still popular (even if it never flew)

Perhaps the most popular example of space food that possibly never was, astronaut ice cream is now 50 years old.

The crunchy, room temperature treat, which melts as the freeze-dried ice cream rehydrates in your mouth, was first introduced in 1974 by American Outdoor Products. ...

To celebrate 50 years of astronaut ice cream, Astronaut Foods is planning to offer commemorative shirts and other swag, as well as limited-edition product launches and the introduction of new packaging for its current line of freeze-dried products.

posted 10-10-2024 09:13 PM               

Astronaut Foods continues 50th anniversary celebration with Anniversary Sale and an array of space-related activations

This year, Astronaut Foods is over the moon to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Astronaut Ice Cream, the out-of-this-world treat that has delighted taste buds and captured imaginations since its launch in 1974. To celebrate and honor this milestone, Astronaut Foods is having an Anniversary Sale and activating across the country at various space-related events, through campaigns and promotions that took place this summer and will continue into the fall.

In July and August, Astronaut Foods partnered with eight popular Colorado Trail hostels and other popular hiker stops to send a box of freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches to give to hikers who pass through as trail magic. This helped hikers celebrate Astronaut Foods and the Colorado Trail's 50th anniversaries and gave them an unexpected, sweet treat to enjoy along their CT journey.

At the end of September, Astronaut Ice Cream activated at the Base 2 Space Race at the Space Needle in Seattle, Wash. (Sept. 29). More than 1,000 samples were given out to participants.

In October, Astronaut Foods will have its online Anniversary Sale from October 10-13, offering 30% off all products sitewide on the AstronautFoods.com website. In late October, look out for an Astronaut Street Team around Boulder and Denver giving out freeze-dried ice cream sandwiches. You can catch them around the CU Boulder Football game on Oct. 26 and the Broncos vs Chiefs game on Oct. 27 in Denver.

In partnership with Vickie Kloeris who just published her book Space Bites: Reflections of a NASA Food Scientist, a limited number of her new books will also be gifted with purchase on the Astronaut Foods website in November.

Astronaut Foods is also a sponsor of the Chautauqua Space Series in Boulder, Colo. The series includes the following shows: Imaging the Storm-Tossed Winds of Outer Space (Oct. 2), Challenger and Hubble: Preventable Failures (Nov. 11), and Lucy in the Sky! NASA's First Mission to the Trojan Asteroids (Dec. 2).

During the first half of the year, Astronaut Ice Cream kicked off its anniversary year by hosting educational sessions for cadets in the Azimuth Summer Space Program as part of the United States Air Force Academy on freeze-dried food technology and space exploration. At the start of the year, the company also earned the STEM.org Authenticated™ trustmark, a recognition that underscores its commitment to quality educational experiences through Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). They also helped space lovers celebrate the Solar Eclipse in April with special Astronaut Foods-branded glasses, and put together a Space Food Survival Kit, which features one of each of Astronaut Food's offerings; 4 ice cream sandwich flavors and 4 freeze-dried fruit packs.

Astronaut Foods is proud to be in its 3rd generation of family ownership with the Smith Family and looks forward to the next frontiers of space food and space travel and to see what the next 50 years bring for the Boulder-based company. To learn more about Astronaut Ice Cream's history of out-of-this-world flavors and memories, check out the company's history here.