The beverage always will be connected to the golden era of midcentury space exploration, but NASA actually did not invent Tang.
Tang debuted in 1957 as a vitamin C-packed breakfast drink. Its selling point was that the powdered mix was shelf-stable, and it was promoted as a healthier and more convenient alternative to fresh orange juice. (And while it certainly may be more convenient than juicing oranges to order every morning, the first two items on Tang’s ingredient list are sugar and fructose.)
But General Foods, Tang’s original parent company, had contracts with the military for…
