PopMatters

" "What's astronaut food?
"You know, stuff in little packets that you keep lying on the shelf. Everyone has some lying around. The people you imagine you might be with but you know you never really will be. The people who if you're in a couple but you're a little bored or restless you meet them for coffee a lot and the other half of your couple isn't really thrilled about it. Or if you're single, they're the people you're keeping on a mental list just so you don't feel like there aren't any possibilities. Friends who are almost more than friends but really, they're just friends. Astronaut food, bombshelter provisions. If you were ever going to have anything with them it would have happened already. Sometimes you even fall in bed with them, but it doesn't count for much. It's always a mistake to try to get any nourishment out of that stuff. But not a big mistake. That's the beautiful part, how the stakes are so low."
"Only if everyone agrees that they're mutual astronaut food."

"Oh, absolutely. You can screw up your astronaut food a million ways. Even just letting them know. Though they sense it at a certain level, nobody wants to be told. The worst is when someone falls in love and then gets all self-righteous about breaking up with their astronaut food, as if there's anything to break up about." "

"You Don't Love Me Yet" - Jonatham Lethem