Scientists brewing up plan to make beer on the Moon

[CheepHeep]

No news for a while so i thought id take it upon myself to indulge you in a topic that many FA members would take interest in. BEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

 

It may not seem the most urgent question currently facing space science, but a team of researchers has nevertheless launched a plan to find out whether beer can be successfully brewed on the Moon.

Scientists from the University of California are designing a fermentation vessel the size of a fizzy drinks can which they hope will be transported on an Indian spacecraft due to blast off later this year.

They say finding out how yeast behaves in lunar conditions is important for the development of pharmaceuticals and yeast-containing foods, like bread, in space.

Rather than separating the fermentation and carbonation stages, as normally occurs during brewing, the team plans to combine them, thereby eliminating the need to release accumulated carbon dioxide which could endanger a spacecraft.

“Our canister is designed based on actual fermenters,” said Srivaths Kaylan, the team’s mechanical leader.

“It contains three compartments, the top will be filled with unfermented beer, and the second will contain the yeast.

“When the rover lands on the Moon with our experiment, a valve will open between the two compartments, allowing the two to mix.”

Once the yeast has done its job, a second valve will open to allow it to sink to separate from the now fermented beer.

The team is one of 25 selected from a pool of 3,000 to compete for a spot for its experiment aboard the TeamIndus spacecraft, which is set to launch on December 28.

Siddhesh Naik, part of TeamIndus, described the yeast study as "among the coolest experiments to be performed on the lunar surface".

 

BEEERRRRR.        

One ticket to the moon please. We just need Wifi now.