I have read that the beer called “4 pine vostok”, from the 4 pine brewery, has been specifically created to be used in space to be safe for astronauts.
Why is is not safe for astronauts to drink regular beer?
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Back in the shuttle days, both Coke and Pepsi flew prototype cans of their sodas. Neither were a hit with the astronauts because of the difficulty getting rid of the gas from their stomach – and if you can’t burp it out, it will come out later.
Because on Earth, when you drink fizzy things, gravity makes the heavier liquids fall to the bottom of your stomach, while the lighter gas rises to the top and then you burp it out.
But in zero-G (yes, technically microgravity) there is no such effect. The gas remains mixed with the liquid so that you can’t burp it out. It’s like trying to burp while you’re standing on your head.
Carbonated drinks in space are bad.
The reason the drink is fizzy is because there’s a lot of CO2 in the drink — more than it could typically hold. When it’s in the can or bottle, it’s under pressure and being held in there. When you open the drink up, the CO2 suddenly has a release path, although it isn’t all instantaneous. A lot of it still remains in the liquid as you drink it (or if you wait long enough, the drink loses all its dissolved CO2 and becomes *flat*).
If you or I drink a soda, the liquid settles in the bottom of our stomach, and as the CO2 escapes, it floats to the top of our stomach. Once there’s enough CO2 released, the pressure in our stomachs becomes so high our body realizes it needs to release a little and burps.
If you were in space though, the liquid doesn’t settle in the bottom and the gas doesn’t rise to the top. Instead, the pressure just builds up everywhere in your stomach, and when you go to burp, some liquid is also pushed out.
So basically every burp from a can of soda or a beer would be a little bit of throwup instead.
Beyond that, you also have to consider that you can’t “pour” liquids in space. If you somehow had a glass of water, turning it upside down doesn’t pour the water out to drink. Everything astronauts drink is in pouches and uses a straw. That can have a big impact on the way you perceive a drink. Vostok actually made some sort of pressurized container that can be used to drink beer more accustomed to a normal bottle rather than like a capri sun.
Wait, are you asking why it’s not safe for people in a very harsh environment, required to do both very physical and mentally challenging things, to drink alcoholic beverages? 🙂
[Here is an illustration of what some of the folks in this thread are talking about](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgC-ocnTTto). Notice how the surface tension of the water keeps the fizz trapped inside the bubble. This is basically what your stomach would look like if you drank a carbonated drink.
You know they are working on spin gravity? The motivation is less about beer, but more about a proper living space which makes extended stays in space much easier. That would also allow carbonated drinks.
IMO we aren’t at the point of space travel to be worrying about drinking beer in space. I can’t believe someone spent time solving that problem. I don’t think astronauts should be ingesting mind altering substances up there.
There was also an actual mechanical Coke dispenser flown on a shuttle flight (STS-77) – definitely worth checking out if you’re interested
http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000692.html
Wonder what’s happens when you fart in space?
I can imagine that the added CO2 scrubbing would be an annoyance too. A single can of coke is equivalent to about 3.5 hours of breathing for CO2 if my maths is correct. So if every astronaut on the ISS had one can of coke a day, the atmospheric systems would basically be supporting another human.
Probably not a massive issue but higher load leads to more stress and maintenance.
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