Edwin Murphy’s Space Gas Warning

At a 1964 conference on space nutrition, a USDA “flatus researcher” named Edwin Murphy warned NASA that methane-heavy astronaut gas could become a fire risk inside sealed capsules. He said the safest crews would be those who produced no methane, and he even reported one volunteer who produced essentially no flatus after eating 100 grams of beans. NASA ignored that idea and instead banned foods like beans, cabbage, sprouts, and broccoli from flight menus for a long time.

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