In an effort to out-startup itself, Space Cargo Unlimited has given us what we never knew we needed, but now we can’t possibly live without: Space Wine! The French company has launched twelve bottles of unnamed reds to the International Space Station (ISS) to observe the aging process of wine in microgravity. The samples, aboard a Northrop Grumman cargo spacecraft, have successfully docked the ISS as of November 4th.
Certainly to the chagrin of the ISS astronauts, the bottles must remain unopened and unchugged for a year onboard the station in order to be accurately compared to their Earth-based counterparts (samples from the same batch of wine—also sealed and kept at a cool, constant 64 degrees Fahrenheit).
From the experiment, Space Cargo Unlimited hopes to gain knowledge about the aging of multi-component liquids in orbit, how space affects tannins and micronutrients, and the general changes in the physical and chemical makeup of the samples.
In other words, will the wine taste good?
And, more importantly for science, will the findings serve to develop long-term food storage and overall human health?
And, even more importantly for further proof that we live in a weird, weird world: According to Kat Jones of The Asgardia Space News Digest, the research is partially sponsored by an unnamed “luxury goods” partner looking to produce customizable chests containing space-altered objects.
The pièce de résistance of each set? Space wine.
What a time to be alive. And while eccentric billionaires we are not (sad!), if space-aged wine is an option in the not-so-distant-future, we will 100% be the suckers shelling out for a taste.
Laura Jaye Cramer is a freelance writer based in California and has written for SF Weekly, GOOD, and PAPER Magazine. Read more Laura Jaye Cramer for Sprudge Wine.
Top image via McLeans
