The French want to send wine into space. What for?

The space industry is not used todayonly to study the orbits of our planet, the search for extraterrestrial life or space missions. Some people try using various conditions of microgravity to conduct various kinds of research that are in no way connected with space exploration. For example, the French company Space Cargo Unlimited wants to send wine to the ISS. But not at all in order to please the astronauts.

Wine is not just an alcoholic beverage, but also an object of scientific research.

Why send wine into orbit?

The goal of Space Cargo Unlimited is tobiological research in microgravity near Earth orbit. Next year, with the help of Blue Origin and SpaceX rockets, they plan to send a dozen bottles of wine into space to get a unique variety of this drink. Scientists want to understand how microgravity and cosmic radiation affect a fluid. At the same time, the experiment begins this year, and the first batch of bottles will fly to the International Space Station on a rocket built by Northrop Grumman.

We assume that storing these samples onThe ISS will be able to have a positive effect on bacteria for some time in space, ”said Professor Philip Darriet, Mission Scientific Director and Director of the Institute for Wine Research at the University of Bordeaux, who will analyze the wine after it returns to Earth.

Studies of the properties of wine, in fact, havequite interesting historical overtones. Space Cargo Unlimited founder Nicolas Gaum mentions the story of Louis Pasteur. The father of microbiology made important discoveries because Napoleon III was concerned about the French export of wine and asked him to find out how to improve its properties. Pasteur developed a method of heating the drink to kill bacteria after it is fermented. Today we know this method under the name "pasteurization".

As you know, microorganisms contribute toaromatization of wines as they age over time. In its experiment, Space Cargo Unlimited hopes to understand how the process of ripening wine in space differs in comparison with the same sample left on the ground.

See also: Scientists research the fungal genome to create new varieties of alcohol

In addition, scientists are planning at leastat least five missions, during one of which mature grapes will be sent to the ISS to study how they grow in this environment. Research can discover new methods of winemaking and even allow the creation of more hardy varieties of grape trees.

Would you like to try “space wine”? Write about it in our chat in Telegram. Just keep in mind that this kind of drink can not be tasted soon. The first batch of wine will be investigated by scientists, and the second, which will be launched next year, has already been sold to private collectors.

Wine is preparing for a journey into space

If Space Cargo Unlimited succeeds in itsthe project, it plans to expand its research beyond winemaking to other sectors of agriculture and biology in order to develop new varieties and species of plants and microorganisms, as well as to create new ways of producing familiar products. The company is unlikely to design spacecraft; rather, it wants to act as a kind of connecting link, bringing together enterprises and groups of scientists with partners who will help conduct research in space.