Gendy AlimurungYes. It's beer. From outer space.
Just when you think they can't possibly top themselves with out-of-this-world product tomfoolery, the Japanese have done it again. Sapporo sent up some barley to the International Space Station a few years ago. They grew it for five months. Then they made it into beer. I don't know if they made it into beer ON the Space Station. Or if they brought it down THEN made the beer? Either way, we fully endorse this use of billions of taxpayer dollars.
If you live in Japan, you can sign up for a lottery to buy the beer. Only 250 six-packs have been brewed. Cost is $110 for a six-pack.
The barley was grown on the Russian Zvezda Service Module. This is it. It is that orange thingy shaped like a flattened muffin.
The barley for the beer was grown in the rear–or “aft” in fancy NASA “science” language–section of the ISS, which is presumably the most fun place to be on the Station (business up front, party in the back!).
Sapporo's press release says: “This beer will be sold for charity, to contribute to the promotion of science education for children and the development of space science research in Japan and Russia.”
Right. Uh huh. Beer. For “the children.”
From Sapporo's corporate website: “Harvest of space barley by the primary schoolchild”
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.