Astronaut Ice Cream: It May Actually Never Have Gone to Space

Late Show host, Stephen Colbert tackled a serious issue on his show Thursday night. The issue is so serious it can ruin everything you have imagined to be true growing up. He talked about one of America's old favorite dessert, Astronaut Ice Cream. According to a report, it really doesn't really have anything to do with the outer space.

According to Mediaite, the coolest part about this ice cream, other than its temperature is the fact that astronaut is in the name. However, the ice cream is anything but yummy. Aside from Stephen Colbert calling the treat "a brick of sweetened sidewalk chalk", Vox also said that this freeze-dried treat may never actually left Earth. The host was mortified to have his childhood dreams crush and the space enthusiast was determined to fix this.

"There are those who say 'why send ice cream into space'" Colbert remarked. "To those I say I do not know, but I'm not the one who claimed to have done it in the 1960s," mocking the fact that generations of Americans have likely thought that the dessert was actually eaten in outer space during manned missions to the cosmos.

"We chose this challenge not because it is easy," Colbert said during a mock press conference in the segment, "but because I have a television show and it's easy." So, the host attached the ice cream to a weather balloon with a clamp in the shape of his face and a camera, popsci.com reported.

A Museum curator at the National Air and Space Museum, Dr. Jennifer Levasseur also told Vox that the reason she thinks the ice cream probably didn't leave Earth is the same reason people here don't eat it on a regular basis-it tastes bad. "It probably got made, tested on the ground, and rejected...[Those who tested it on the ground] probably thought it was as horrible as it actually is when you buy it in the gift shop," she said.

In addition, Chris Hadfield, an astronaut and space musician explained in a 2013 video that crumbly foods could leave crumbs floating in space, which could get in and ruin the machine aboard the space station. It's unclear if Colbert made it to the 62-mile mark -- the last measurement the clip includes is at 94,000 feet before the screen flashes "SPACE!"

Either way, Colbert shared astronaut ice cream with his audience afterwards, and it's a fun and tasty (albeit chalky) clip.