International Space Station Experiments With Booze

[WMDogma]

International Space Station Experiments With Booze

A Scottish whiskey distillery provides the ISS with the makings of a good malt whiskey. For science.

Never before have I wished that I followed my childhood dream to become an astronaut more than today. The Ardbeg Distillery, which has been producing whiskey on the Scottish island of Islay for centuries, has sent up some of their whiskey-making ingredients to the International Space Station as part of a two year experiment on gravitational forces.

The distillery teamed up with a US-based company called NanoRacks in the hopes that its cargo of unmaturated malt and charred oak particles (used by the Ardbeg in its own whiskey-making process) could help NanoRack's researchers see how gravity effects the way complex molecules (called terpenes) interact with each other.

"By doing this microgravity experiment on the interaction of terpenes and other molecules with the wood samples provided by Ardbeg, we will learn much about flavors, even extending to applications like food and perfume,"
explained Michael Johnson, chief technical officer of NanoRacks. "At the same time it should help Ardbeg find new chemical building blocks in their own flavor spectrum."

It's believed that this experiment is the first of its kind, which makes me wonder why it took so long for science to step up to the plate to tackle this important issue.

Source: BBC [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-17657804]

Image: Flickr [http://www.flickr.com/photos/dannynic/4857377582/sizes/m/in/photostream/]

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[Tireseas_v1legacy]

Two years later...

Yeah, the experiment was a failure... the end-product mysteriously disappeared one weekend in March...

 

[weirdee]

Gundambrau: the strongest drink known to man, production of which is only possible on the moon.

 

[Findlebob]

I cant wait to hear how much the finished product sells for.

 

[Cyberman Thetory]

The spelling is "whisky", not "whiskey".

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

The spelling is "whisky", not "whiskey".

Not if you've been drinking it

*rimshot*

 

[Pyrian]

The spelling is "whisky", not "whiskey".

It's just an alternate spelling of the same word.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Understanding the effects of microgravity on particle solutions seems like a fairly easy setup to make. This seems like (a perfectly justified, mind) excuse to bring booze into space, to test the effects of booze on a body in space. Go Science!

 

[Apollo45]

This is awesome. I may have to celebrate by doing some "experimentation" of my own.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

The spelling is "whisky", not "whiskey".

It's just an alternate spelling of the same word.

Actually 'whisky' is applied to Scotch, 'whiskey' is the usage for types not brewed in Scotland. And since this'll be brewed in space, 'whiskey' is the correct term. It's like with 'champagne' and 'sparkling wine'.

I can see the tagline now:
You'll make an impact, with meadior.

Surely it'd be called Rocket Fuel...

 

[Pyrian]

Actually 'whisky' is applied to Scotch, 'whiskey' is the usage for types not brewed in Scotland.

Actually it's just more likely to be spelled without the "e" in Scotland (and parts of Canada). It's still the same word.

 

[Valanthe]

To everyone questioning the spelling, this is from the Master of Malts site, link [http://www.masterofmalt.com/whisky-or-whiskey/]

The spelling of whisky, or whiskey, differs geographically. As a rule, American and Irish prefer ?whiskey? and the Scots, Canadians and the rest of the world?s single malt makers prefer ?whisky?. This originated during the 19th century. For in around 1870, Scotch whisky was of very low quality, much of it being distilled poorly in Coffey stills. For exportation to America, the Irish distillers wanted to differentiate their product from the poorer Scotch whisky, thus they added the ?e? to mark the crucial distinction. Today, Scotch whisky has become one of the world?s greatest spirits, but the spelling still differs. On mass, Americans still spell their spirit with an ?e?, though legally it is spelt ?whisky?. A few distillers, Maker?s Mark and George Dickel for example, prefer the Scottish spelling, this is to be attributed to their Scottish ancestry.

Basically, it's simply a matter of preference, but mostly depends on where you're from, much like the words, colour, harbour, neighbour, etc.

Back on topic, I wholly approve of mixing science and alcohol, this can only mean wonderful things!

 

[theheroofaction]

So this is whiskey made in space.

Why has this not happened yet?

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Actually 'whisky' is applied to Scotch, 'whiskey' is the usage for types not brewed in Scotland.

Actually it's just more likely to be spelled without the "e" in Scotland (and parts of Canada). It's still the same word.

It's almost like a trademark though. Yes they are different spellings of the same word, but the spelling difference is there on purpose specifically to signify true Scottish whiskies from others. Didn't know about Canadian whiskies though, that's a new one on me - not that I'm doubting you. Did the spelling persist due to Commonwealth links do you think? Or is it just one of those things?

 

[Robert Ewing]

Alcohol in space. Puking in space. Implying that they totally won't destroy a vital component of the station while in a drunken rage about not being able to masturbate without the other guys seeing the evidence float across the room. Gross.

 

[Zen Toombs]

Spoiler: Ladies and Gentleman...

Isn't science awesome?

 

[Racecarlock]

Izzzzzzz one zmallllllllllll zszssszsstep for mari... marlbor.. miba.. mabi.. man, on- on- o- o- o- one leap giant for okay dude you're driving the spaceship back.

 

[kaizen2468]

They should bring the booze that was in space back to Earth and market it was collectable "Space Booze"