Among the many sacrifices astronauts give up for us by going into space for long stretches of time—saying goodbye to their family and friends, drinking water made from their own urine, extremely bulky outfits—they also have to eat an extremely limited diet. Which so far does not include sweet, sweet alcohol (although Buzz Aldrin did take some communion wine once). But now a beer company has teamed with a space engineering firm to help beer face the final frontier—by creating beer bottles that could work in space.
The Sun describes that the prototype of the “Vostok” beer bottle “uses the same tech as rocket fuel tanks to defy the challenges of drinking in zero gravity,” especially relating to beer’s carbonation. The product is a collaboration between Australia’s 4 Pines Brewing Company founder Jaron Mitchell and the space engineering firm Saber Aeronautics. The two hope to raise the million dollars they need to produce the space beer bottle through an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. 4 Pines is even creating a “space stout” to go along with the bottle.
To keep the fizziness of beer even in space, “The bottle incorporates a special insert that uses surface tension to wick the beer from the bottom of the bottle to the mouthpiece so you can drink normally.” The company is currently looking for testers to drink beer in zero gravity.
You can’t say the project isn’t looking ahead: After all, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic flights and other “space tourism” projects will undoubtedly be looking to expand their services into the alcohol-friendly. And the beer space race is on, as The Sun points out that Budweiser wants to become the first beer on Mars, by tagging along on an exploratory mission. Even with although this high-tech innovation, the prospect of drunk astronauts still sounds like a potentially hazardous idea: In space, no one can hear you belch.