Scotch Whisky Sent Into Space For Science Due To Return Soon

BlutarskyTFM10 years ago

Scientists are always doing crazy experiments. Sometimes I’m surprised they get funding for some of the shit they do, but regardless of how odd these experiments may seem, some of them are pretty awesome. One of these awesome experiments took place in 2011.

In what is arguably one of the coolest experiments in recent years, researchers sent vials of Ardbeg scotch whisky into orbit. Yeah, that’s right. These guys shot a bunch of booze up into space.

Of course, considering the associated costs, they didn’t do this just for shits and giggles.

From CNet:

“The vials contained a class of compounds known as ‘terpenes.’ Ardbeg was invited by US-based space research company NanoRacks LLC to take part in testing these micro organic compounds in a maturation experiment (the interaction of these compounds with charred oak) between normal gravity on Earth and micro-gravity i.e. space.”

I’m no astrophysicist or anything like that, but that sounds like money well spent to me. I mean, for all we know, putting whisky into space could have some incredible results. What if it matures quicker in a low gravity environment? The possibilities are endless here.

Fortunately, we won’t have to wait too much longer to find out what the results of the experiment are. After three years of orbiting the planet for a total of 15,000 times, the scotch will return to Earth on Sept. 12. After that, it’ll be taken to a lab in Houston, have more tests run on it, and eventually, the results will be published.

While I’m sure there are all kinds of very scientific details associated with this experiment, I’ve got one question lingering on my mind: how does it taste?

[via CNet]

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