An Introduction

Bottlestore Galactica

 Or, how (and what) to drink in space, the final frontier.

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After the first moon landing in 1969 there was a flurry of speculation and theorizing made about the possibility of humans inhabiting celestial bodies other than earth, and the challenges associated with the realities of living in what is essentially a lifeless environment. Where would we live? How would we eat? Where does the poop go?

While the reality of the huge budget and scientific constraints set in and dashed hopes of holidaying on the moons of Jupiter for many years, we’ve recently seen a resurgence in investment from the private sector with an eye on commercializing space flight and developing interstellar tourism and the possibilities of colonization within our solar system. From Virgin interstellar to LightSail-3, it seems that the private sector may again trump the public and the dream of space travel and colonization of other planets in our solar system and beyond might become a reality.

This raises a whole new set of questions and ethical quandaries on issues from regulation and ownership rights to pollution, power and the logistics of supplying a demand more than 380,000 miles away from earth. This is not the blog to discuss those issues. This blog will discuss the issue of getting sauced in space.

Alcohol has not only been a part of every major civilization for the last nine thousand years, generating more than one trillion USD annually, and it is inexorably tied to the hospitality field. Familiarity and personal luxuries are major drivers in helping individuals acclimatize to a new environment, so it is safe to assume the comforting and socially lubricating presence of alcohol would be vital in establishing a new foothold in space, whether is be a hotel in the ISS or a terraforming base on Mars.

But the obvious issue is you can’t pop down to the corner store for a six pack when you are hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth. So how will we drink in space? What will we drink in space? Can you shake a cocktail in zero gravity? Will a beer stay carbonated during space flight? How are we going to get fresh lime juice on mars? Can you do a layback in five times earth’s gravity? Can you distill a spirit when there is no atmosphere? How the bloody hell am I going to handle this hangover in an elliptical orbit of the moon?

This blog will attempt to answer all these questions and more, providing potential solutions to the meaty problems of drinking in space, as well as suggesting what you should drink, how you should drink it and how to make your own space-man (or lady) drinks at home.

This blog is purely hypothetical, where we will be making assumptions based on the best possible data, research and popular theories available, combined with information about the science of creating and consuming alcohol. Expect wild ideas and content deciphered from illegible scribbles on sodden cocktail napkins, and much like the popular science magazines of the early twentieth century that said we would all be living in dirigibles by now, remember that none of this will probably ever come to pass.

Maybe.

But if it does, remember you read it here first.