Since this is a West Texan Post ISS Scholar writing this, we’re not going to ease into anything.
We’re going straight into the details, specifics, and probably more information than anyone asked for.
And today, that means Don Tomas Café. For y’all that don’t know, Don Tomas is not just a place you go in the Midland-Odessa area, but it’s a weekly commitment to real Mexican morning and lunch burritos. Minimum once a week or two. Sometimes three times if life is getting complicated and you really need to make decisions over a tortilla the size of a steering wheel.
You aren’t able to walk in casually either. You already know what you’re getting, or at least you think you do, and then you get to the counter and start reconsidering everything like it’s a life choice. Their tortillas are massive. Not big. Not large. Massive. Slightly translucent when the light hits them, warm enough that you feel it through the paper, soft but strong. That tortilla has structure, integrity, purpose and is holding together more than just food. It’s holding together decisions and deliciousness.
Since last year’s blog was about Don Tomas’s queso and the salsaing salsa, I’ve since discovered even more combinations that honestly should be studied and shared with the rest of the world.
One of them is the chile verde burrito with avocado.
The chile verde already brings that deep, slow heat with a little tang to it, but the avocado changes everything. It smooths it out, rounds the edges, makes the burrito feel complete instead of just intense. It’s the difference between something being good and something being balanced.
And then there’s the picadillo or also known as beef and potato. Picadillo with avocado is already solid. But add queso, and now you’ve crossed into something else entirely. The queso melts into the beef, filling in every gap, rich and smooth, while the avocado keeps it from becoming too much. Creamy, savory, just enough spice to keep you locked in, but not enough to take you out and paired with their salsing salsa, it’s the living dream.
At some point while munching on the food, sitting there mid-bite, foil everywhere, hands slightly covered in queso, thinking… yeah. I’m coming back tomorrow.
And somehow this all connects to space. Because early on, NASA sent astronauts up with regular bread. Which sounds completely normal until you remember there’s no gravity and that bread has crumbs. On Earth, crumbs fall, disappear and harmless.
In space, they don’t fall but they tend to do something unnatural, float. Imagine, tiny pieces of bread drifting through the cabin, getting into control panels, air vents, switches, places they absolutely should not be. Something as simple as a sandwich can suddenly become the reason for something not working.
Then in 1985, Mexican astronaut Dr. Rodolfo Neri Vela brought tortillas on the STS-61B mission and everything changed. One thing tortillas can do is crumble. They bend. They wrap. They hold everything together.
No loose pieces floating away. No crumbs getting into equipment. Everything stays contained, controlled, intentional. You can fold it, seal it, eat it without worrying about anything escaping into orbit. The tortilla was simple and worked brilliantly.
NASA started officially including tortillas in space missions, even working with food scientists to make versions that could last for months. Special packaging, longer shelf life, designed to survive storage, pressure changes, and time in a way normal food never has to.
Meanwhile I can’t make mine last nine minutes at Don Tomas without finishing the entire thing and somehow they both serve the same purpose.
And that’s when it hits. The same tortilla holding together my weekly Don Tomas decision is floating above Earth right now, keeping astronauts fed without everything falling apart.
Innovation isn’t always complicated and sometimes it’s just a tortilla that doesn’t fall apart, queso that’s doing too much, and knowing exactly when to add avocado.
Happy National Astronaut Day!
Written By Stellar Student Yuki Soda