Astronauts Raid Space Pantry

The two U.S. and Russian
astronauts on the International Space Station had to rely on a
candy-laden diet for five weeks because their predecessors
raided the pantry.
"Both of us ended up losing a few pounds," U.S. astronaut
Leroy Chiao said in a news conference from the station on
Wednesday. "We looked at it as kind of a challenge, kind of a
camping adventure, roughing it I guess."
Chiao and Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov, who arrived
at the station in October, had to cut calories because the
previous crew got into their food rations.
They had permission to do that but did not record how much
they had eaten and "It was not until we got well into the
mission, we started seeing on board we weren't going to have
enough," Chiao said.
He and Sharipov inventoried the remaining food, which was
heavy on candy and desserts, and worked out a diet to stretch
their supplies until a new shipment of food arrived aboard a
Russian cargo carrier on Saturday.
"We had to kind of cut back to about half rations of what I
would call real food -- meat, potatoes, vegetables. We had to
supplement and make up for part of that calorie deficit with
sweets," Chiao said. "It was not an unhealthy diet but not an
ideal diet."
The unmanned Russian supply ship brought 2.5 ton of
food, water, equipment and other supplies, including family
photos and other Christmas presents from home. The astronauts
were still unpacking it on Wednesday.
Had the supply ship been delayed significantly, the
astronauts would have had to cut short their six-month mission
and return to Earth aboard a Soyuz capsule docked at the
station.