Booze In Space!

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Notes from the Booze in Space Panel, at Archon 47

This past weekend I was at the Archon47 science fiction convention, and was a speaker on several panels. By far the best attended panel I sat on was titled: Booze In Space!

“The panel description states: Alcoholic beverages are frequently included in Science Fiction works, such as Saurian brandy, Romulan ale, Klingon blood wine, and synthehol – and that’s just from one SF universe! We’ll discuss how these beverages are depicted (often without any useful description) as well as issues associated with their production and consumption: how would one operate a still on a space station? What are the physiological effects of alcohol on a body in zero-g?”

This conversation was the brain child of the moderator Dr. Jack Glassman, Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Also appearing were Travis Creason, super fan, and Tom Briggs, fellow chemical engineer and science fiction writer.

The discussion was wide-ranging and enthusiastic, with active audience participation. Funny how alcohol brings that out in people.

The audience listed a number of depictions of adult beverages in science fiction. The ones from Star Trek mentioned above figured heavily. I had forgotten Scotty’s reaction to synthehol after being frozen in a transporter pattern buffer for decades. He disapproved. The consensus in the room was that synthehol was a symptom of The Next Generation’s “nicening” compare to The Original Series. This even though Ten-Forward was a shipboard bar, serving more than just prune juice.

Bars seem to be more common in fantasy stories than in science fiction. Which makes sense. All those parties of adventurers have to meet up somewhere; The Prancing Pony, Inn of the Last Home, The Leaky Cauldron, The Green Dragon Inn, The Silver Eel Tavern, and The Traveler’s Rest. Science fiction bars turned out to be tougher to name beyond Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon, and that den of scum and villainy cantina in Mos Eisley starport.

Then the topic shifted to the history of alcohol in space exploration so far. The earliest documented imbibing I could find was Buzz Aldrin, taking holy communion with a small volume of wine on July 11, 1969, while inside the landed lunar lander. Does that count, being consecrated wine? Good question. The Russians, being Russians, allowed regular relaxation on the Mir space station with cognac and brandy. Probably vodka too, but I couldn’t confirm that online. NASA has prohibited alcohol from the ISS since 2007, when a couple of astronauts had a bit too much.

Also banned from the ISS are carbonated beverages, alcoholically enhanced or not. Dissolved gasses behave differently in freefall. Instead of courteously rising to the top of the glass and forming an aesthetic head of foam, CO2 bubbles in zero-g float around in the bulk of the liquid. These bubbles clump together like bunches of grapes, and are likely to be swallowed. That leads to a condition referred to as “wet burps,” among other less-polite physiological eventualities. 

A couple of biologists in the audience engaged in a brief debate as to whether you would get drunk on less alcohol in zero-g. It involved the tendency of blood pressure to alter in free fall (I don’t remember if it goes up or down) and the distribution of fluids within the body. They were still arguing when the panel’s time ran out.

A recent University of Florida study indicated that fermentation occurs at increased yield in freefall. In the study, zero-g was simulated with a device that turned the test tubes in random directions at random times, so the little bugs literally couldn’t tell which way was up. Distillation in orbit is a challenge though. Sure, you can get the yeast to make some alcohol, but how are you going to refine it into whiskey or vodka without gravity to make a still work? Tom Briggs’ chemical engineering knowledge came in handy in this regard. There’s an existing technology called hi-gee distillation, which carries out the process in what is essentially a sealed centrifuge. In short, you make your own gravity, and can control its intensity. That, or some sort of selective membrane separation is probably the only way to do that job.

As it turns out, you too can partake in space beer. Albeit in a somewhat removed manner. Nikansi Brewing Company of Oregan managed to wrangle a sample of yeast into orbit. When that returned to Earth, the brewers at Nikansi used the yeast (and subsequent generations thereof) to brew their Ground Control Imperial Ale. Along the same lines, Sapporo acquired some barley seeds sent to the ISS by researchers in 2006, and brewed beer using the 4th generation of those seeds. Sapporo’s Space Barely sells for $110 per six-pack. A photo of Sapporo’s sci fi brewing achievement should accompany this article (if everything works right 😊).

Probably the biggest hurdle to booze in space will be bureaucratic. Whether in orbit or on Mars, the resources of a colony will be expensive, tightly constrained, and watched diligently. That’s because everything an astronaut takes with him has to be flung up out of our gravity well, at great expense. Therefore, the powers that be (or will be) won’t look kindly on frivolously diverting materials to making booze.

However, as almost any military veteran will testify, booze gets made on the sly, no matter the rules against it. During World War II, some naval torpedoes used alcohol as fuel. Sailors noticed this, and tapped the tiny little fuel tanks upon occasion. Stills still pop up in remote, and not so remote, installations from Alaska to Antarctica, in spite of fanatical efforts by authorities. Life will find a way…to get drunk.

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