Space Bites: Reflections of a NASA Food Scientist

＂During her decades-long career at NASA, my friend and colleague Vickie Kloeris made sure my fellow astronauts and I were well-fed and healthy while in space. Space Bites is not only a compilation of stories of her amazing career but also a behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of human space travel. Read this book to be inspired and to learn, and don’t be surprised if it also leaves you hungry for some space food.＂ ​--Mike Massimino, Former NASA Astronaut and NY Times Bestselling Author of Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe
As a microbiology undergrad entering her final semester at Texas A&M University, Vickie found she was missing a single one-hour credit in her elective studies. As she scanned through the list of approved options, a course in food microbiology caught her eye. Vickie didn’t know it then, but that seemingly simple decision would drastically change the course of her career--and life--from that moment forward.
Vickie Kloeris’s Space Bites: Reflections of a NASA Food Scientist takes readers through the many memorable moments of her career as she worked on both the Shuttle and International Space Station food systems. If you’ve ever wanted an inside look at what it’s like to assemble a sandwich in space, produce a space food breakfast for the cast of Apollo 13, or work side by side with astronauts as they prepare for the journey of a lifetime, you’re sure to learn something new with the turn of every page. A charming balance of technical knowledge and human experience, Vickie’s career memoir is a story for the scientist, space enthusiast, and spontaneous reader alike.

Vickie Kloeris recently retired from NASA where she worked in space food systems for thirty-four years. For twenty-nine of those years, she served as the NASA manager of first the Shuttle food system and then that of the International Space Station. She has authored and co-authored numerous publications and has received several awards, including NASA’s highest employee award, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, in 2019. During her career, she was twice awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and also received the Johnson Space Center Director’s Commendation Award. In 2017, she was given an Outstanding Alumni Award by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at her alma mater, Texas A&M University.

Vickie has been a member of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), a professional organization for food scientists, since 1978 and has received their designation of certified food scientist. Over the years, she has held multiple IFT roles and served on the board of directors. After serving for a year as president elect and a year as president, she is now the immediate past president.

Vickie earned a B.S. in Microbiology and an M.S. in Food Science and Technology from Texas A&M University.

She lives in Pearland, Texas, just outside Houston with her husband, Steve, and their lab, Emma.