Everyone craves a certain something in Houston that can't quite be replicated anywhere else. Even astronauts.
For Colonel Timothy J. Creamer, a flight engineer and NASA science officer who's been living in the international space station since December 2009, that craving is for the sandtart cookies from The Italian Cafe in Seabrook.
After Creamer put in a request for the traditional Italian wedding treats, NASA ordered a batch for microbiological testing. The cookies passed, and now some are set to blast off in the scheduled April 5 launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Bessilyn and Frank Piazza, who have owned and operated the Italian Cafe for 20 years, say they are over the moon with the special order. "This is something I never dreamed would happen. I'm still on cloud nine," Bessilyn Piazza said. "It will be the perfect tribute to my mother. I know how proud she would be to see her sandtarts travel into space."
Piazza's cookies are available here on Earth for $2.75 for six, and available for shipping around the globe — and beyond.