WEBVTT - What's the Buzz on Alcohol in Space?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey, brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Flour and Vogel bomb. Here. In September, a new breakthrough

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<v Speaker 1>in space technology was uncorked, especially designed bottle that will

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<v Speaker 1>make it possible to drink champagne in the microgravity environment

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<v Speaker 1>of space. The bottle contains two chambers, one for the

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<v Speaker 1>champagne and the other for a valve that uses the

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<v Speaker 1>carbon dioxide in the champagne to eject foamy little alcohol spheres,

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<v Speaker 1>which can then be scooped into long stemmed glasses for sipping.

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<v Speaker 1>Once inside the mouth, the spheres turn back huala into

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<v Speaker 1>liquid champagne. This space champagne, as the Agency France Press reported,

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<v Speaker 1>is envisioned as an amenity for space horsts, who someday

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<v Speaker 1>may be taking pleasure trips with private space flight operators.

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<v Speaker 1>If future recreational astronauts do get the chance to savor

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<v Speaker 1>some of the bubbly, it won't be the first time

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<v Speaker 1>that alcohol has been consumed in space. The practice goes

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<v Speaker 1>back to the early days of the Soviet space program,

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<v Speaker 1>when the U S sr S doctors reportedly sent cosmonauts

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<v Speaker 1>into orbit with rations of cognac. One former cosmonaut told

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<v Speaker 1>NBC News. We used it to stimulate our immune system

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<v Speaker 1>and on the whole to keep our organisms in tone.

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<v Speaker 1>Later on, cosmonauts were given a liquor containing jin sing,

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<v Speaker 1>a root that's a traditional herbal remedy for improving energy

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<v Speaker 1>and concentration. NASA, in contrast, generally has prohibited astronauts from

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<v Speaker 1>drinking not just in space, but also within sixteen hours

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<v Speaker 1>of a space launch, but the agency has wavered from

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<v Speaker 1>its teetotaling stance at times. There reportedly was a plan,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, to allow the Apollo eight crew to drink

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<v Speaker 1>a small ration of brandy to go with their Christmas

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<v Speaker 1>meal of dehydrated bacon cubes and turkey gravy stuffing, but

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<v Speaker 1>Commander Frank Borman decided that they should forego the alcohol.

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<v Speaker 1>On the Apollo eleven trip to the Moon in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty nine, astronaut Buzz Aldrin did open a small plastic

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<v Speaker 1>container of wine. It was almost certainly the first food

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<v Speaker 1>or drink consumed during the trip, but it was so

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<v Speaker 1>that he, a Presbyterian Church elder, could take communion. According

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<v Speaker 1>to NBC News, as former NASA food developers Charles T.

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<v Speaker 1>Borland and Gregory L. Vatt detail in their book The

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<v Speaker 1>Astronauts Cookbook, Tails, Recipes, and more. NASA considered providing astronauts

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<v Speaker 1>on the sky Lab mission in the nineteen seventies with

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<v Speaker 1>sherry packaged inflexible plastic pouches was built in drinking tubes,

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<v Speaker 1>but the idea was mixed for fear of negative publicity

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<v Speaker 1>and because apparently the beverage, although perfectly palatable on the ground,

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<v Speaker 1>filled the cabin with an intensely nauseating smell on a

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<v Speaker 1>test flight that approximated low gravity with free fall. And

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<v Speaker 1>NASA report titled Living Aloft Human Requirements for Extended Space

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<v Speaker 1>Flight contemplated the pros and cons of drinking on space

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<v Speaker 1>flights and in future settlements on the Moon or other planets.

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<v Speaker 1>It noted it is unlikely that alcohol as a social

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<v Speaker 1>beverage will find its way into space, at least until

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<v Speaker 1>relatively large and stable settlements are established. Alcohol as a

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<v Speaker 1>recreational drug may be keenly missed by space travelers, since

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<v Speaker 1>there is evidence that alcohol plays an important social role

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<v Speaker 1>in exotic environments. Generally, though, today's space travelers have to

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<v Speaker 1>wait until they get back to Earth before they have

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<v Speaker 1>a drink because of alcohol's chemical volatility. That is, its

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<v Speaker 1>tendency to vaporize, astronauts aren't allowed to have it on

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<v Speaker 1>the International Space Station. We spoke via email with Daniel G. Huo,

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<v Speaker 1>a spokesman at NASA's Johnson's Space Center. He said that

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<v Speaker 1>this ban is due to quote the negative effects that

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<v Speaker 1>alcohol can have on the water recovery system, which draws

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<v Speaker 1>in water from a number of sources, including cabin condensation.

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<v Speaker 1>The bed applies not just to beverages, but to any

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<v Speaker 1>sort of product containing alcohol, such as aftershave or mouthwash.

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<v Speaker 1>There's another tricky issue about drinking in space. Not much

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<v Speaker 1>is known about the effect of alcohol consumption on the

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<v Speaker 1>human body in the space environment, which already is no

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<v Speaker 1>to alter everything from the immune system to hand eye coordination.

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<v Speaker 1>No official studies have been done, so we really don't

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<v Speaker 1>know whether the space environment would intensify the intoxicating effect

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<v Speaker 1>of alcohol, or how an orbital hangover would compare to

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<v Speaker 1>one that results from a bender on Earth. While we

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<v Speaker 1>don't have much science on alcohol and space, for what

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<v Speaker 1>it's worth, there has been research on the effects of

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<v Speaker 1>alcohol consumption at high altitudes on Earth. In study, for example,

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<v Speaker 1>some male subjects drink a quantity of one hundred proof

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<v Speaker 1>vodka adjusted to their weight. For a one pound man

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<v Speaker 1>that's about seventy kilos, it was about four shots, and

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<v Speaker 1>then they spent the day in a simulated twelve thousand,

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred foot elevation environment that's about thirty eight hundreds.

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<v Speaker 1>They were then compared to other subjects who didn't drink

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<v Speaker 1>and or who stayed at sea level. The drinkers experienced

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<v Speaker 1>impaired performance on a battery of tasks, with older subjects

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<v Speaker 1>performing worse than younger ones, but there wasn't a significant

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<v Speaker 1>difference between drinkers at high altitudes and those who stayed

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<v Speaker 1>on the ground. Although not much alcohol has been consumed

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<v Speaker 1>in space, researchers are studying the creation of it on

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<v Speaker 1>the I s S. Scotch maker Art Begs set samples

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<v Speaker 1>of unaged booze and wood up to study how whiskey

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<v Speaker 1>might age differently in space, and Budweiser sent along batches

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<v Speaker 1>of barley seeds in a scientific effort to understand the

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<v Speaker 1>effects of microgravity on beer ingredients. Today's episode was written

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<v Speaker 1>by Patrick J. Keiger and produced by Tyler Clang. To

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<v Speaker 1>learn more about the history and science of space, food

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<v Speaker 1>and beverages, check out the episode of my other podcast

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<v Speaker 1>Saver called ground Control to Major nom brain. Stuff is

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