# Carbonated beverages in space.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 31, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414 "2017-03-31T15:10:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 14
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/1 "2017-03-31T15:10:19Z")
I recently visited Kennedy Space Center. I participated in “Lunch with an Astronaut.” His topic of discussion that day was food in space. He mentioned that on one shuttle mission (not the one he was on) that Coke and Pepsi sent their beverages on board. He showed a clip of a blob of the beverage floating and the astronaut snatching it with his mouth.
I began to wonder if the beverage was carbonated. Would it be possible to carbonate a beverage in a weightless environment? I can see how they might be able to carbonate it in a packet and drink it that way but would the beverage be able to hold the carbonation outside of a packet?
I actually got a chance to ask the astronaut this question and he said he didn’t know the answer. He said it was done on only one mission, not his, and that it was an interesting question.
Can any Dopers weigh in on this? (I guess there is a pun there.)
---
### Author:  [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/2 "2017-03-31T15:15:38Z")
You could certainly take a carbonated beverage in a can or bottle into space and I doubt it would behave any differently (other than the small air bubble would not be at the top necessarily. And I suspect the Mentos experiment would work about the same as the opening at the top really has nothing to do with gravity, it’s just pressure.
If you opened a bottom or can of carbonated beverage, I don’t know how quickly it would go flat. The carbon dioxide gas molecules would not “know” which way was up so they might just drift around inside the liquid. Eventually they’d come to one surface or another.
---
### Author:  [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/3 "2017-03-31T15:20:59Z")
According to [NASA](https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/5-8/features/F_Carbonated_Beverages_Space.html)
> [@](#):
>
> The bubbles of carbon dioxide in carbonated beverages aren’t buoyant in a weightless environment, so they remain randomly distributed throughout the fluid, even after swallowing. This means that carbonated beverages including soft drinks and beer may become a foamy mess during space travel.
So it won’t go flat, instead it will be too carbonated.
---
### Author:  [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/4 "2017-03-31T16:26:36Z")
Several years ago there was a highly-publicized event where not just one but TWO competing designs for carbonated beverage containers were sent into space and tested on, I believe, the shuttle.
Here are pictures:
> **[carbonated drinks space shuttle - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=9t2YKSj6&id=0BBF5B2BFC7CDC377AB42C9A37E3DEBCBDB665FA&q=carbonated%2Bdrinks%2Bspace%2Bshuttle&simid=607990520949375169&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0)**
>
> Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you.
[https://airandspace.si.edu/webimages/collections/full/A19850812000d.JPG](https://airandspace.si.edu/webimages/collections/full/A19850812000d.JPG)
Here’s the story:
[https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/pepsi-cola-can-sts-51-f](https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/pepsi-cola-can-sts-51-f)
> [@](#):
>
> In 1984, researchers for Coca Cola had an idea about dispensing carbonated beverages in space to give astronauts more choices to drink and also to create a stellar advertising opportunity. The company developed a can that would work in weightlessness to keep the cola fizzy without spewing out of the can. NASA agreed to let the astronauts try the Coke device on a Shuttle flight. When Pepsi learned of this project, it also wanted to participate and developed its own container. Both Coke and Pepsi products were flown on the STS 51-F mission in 1985 so crew members could evaluate the dispensers and do a taste test. Results were mixed and NASA did not add either company’s product to the Shuttle food pantry; the mid-1980s “Cola Wars” continued on earth but not in space. NASA gave the Museum this extra Pepsi can that was modified for spaceflight.
More info:
> **[STS-51-F](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-51-F)**
>
> STS-51-F (also known as Spacelab 2) was the 19th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the eighth flight of Space Shuttle Challenger. It launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on July 29, 1985, and landed eight days later on August 6, 1985.
> While STS-51-F's primary payload was the Spacelab 2 laboratory module, the payload that received the most publicity was the Carbonated Beverage Dispenser Evaluation, which was an experiment in which both Coca-Cola and Pepsi tried to make their c...
> **[9 Weird Things That Flew on NASA's Space Shuttles](https://www.space.com/12128-9-weird-nasa-space-shuttle-cargo-mementos-countdown.html)**
>
> NASA's space shuttles have flown some peculiar and crazy objects into orbit, including a lightsaber from "Star Wars" and a vial of dirt from the pitcher's mound at Yankee Stadium."
---
### Author:  [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/5 "2017-03-31T16:29:58Z")
Results were mixed, eh. I wonder if the trick is that you need to add a fraction of the CO2 for this to work so it doesn’t turn into a foamy mess.
---
### Author:  [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/6 "2017-03-31T17:03:24Z")
I am a little puzzled by the wording of the OP.
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#):
>
> Would it be possible to carbonate a beverage in a weightless environment?
Are you asking if it’s possible to take an uncarbonated liquid into orbit and cause it to become carbonated there? That is, to inject carbon dioxide into the liquid and produce a carbonated liquid, like is done in bottling plants on earth? Somehow, despite the seemingly clear wording, I don’t think that’s what you meant.
---
### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/7 "2017-03-31T17:31:24Z")
> [@OldGuy](#):
>
> If you opened a bottom or can of carbonated beverage…
I’m sure this would yield a buttload of product, and while it apparently would be predigested I’m not sure how it would come out in the end. Of course up there in space it would be affected by the moon.
😃
---
### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/8 "2017-03-31T18:03:48Z")
> [@markn\_1](#):
>
> I am a little puzzled by the wording of the OP.
>
> Are you asking if it’s possible to take an uncarbonated liquid into orbit and cause it to become carbonated there? That is, to inject carbon dioxide into the liquid and produce a carbonated liquid, like is done in bottling plants on earth? Somehow, despite the seemingly clear wording, I don’t think that’s what you meant.
I wonder if it would be possible to take containers of non-carbonated water and small CO2 cylinders separately into space, then add the carbonation to the water, like in a SodaStream?
---
### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/9 "2017-03-31T18:17:58Z")
> [@](#):
>
> …so they remain randomly distributed throughout the fluid, even after swallowing.
Even after swallowing? So in weightlessness, the carbonation remains until each bubble eventually works its way out of the fluid?
---
### Author:  [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/10 "2017-03-31T22:02:47Z")
> [@markn\_1](#):
>
> I am a little puzzled by the wording of the OP.
>
> Are you asking if it’s possible to take an uncarbonated liquid into orbit and cause it to become carbonated there? That is, to inject carbon dioxide into the liquid and produce a carbonated liquid, like is done in bottling plants on earth? Somehow, despite the seemingly clear wording, I don’t think that’s what you meant.
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> I wonder if it would be possible to take containers of non-carbonated water and small CO2 cylinders separately into space, then add the carbonation to the water, like in a SodaStream?
Well, I didn’t know if it was already carbonated or they would take the flavored liquid and carbonate it on the spot. Seems that the digestion problem would be foreseen so I also wondered if they were just providing the flavored liquid un-carbonated.
---
### Author:  [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)
#### Post date: [March 31, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/11 "2017-03-31T22:09:49Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#):
>
> I’m sure this would yield a buttload of product, and while it apparently would be predigested I’m not sure how it would come out in the end. Of course up there in space it would be affected by the moon.
>
> 😃
Well done.
---
### Author:  [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2017, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/12 "2017-04-01T10:22:06Z")
> [@cochrane](#):
>
> I wonder if it would be possible to take containers of non-carbonated water and small CO2 cylinders separately into space, then add the carbonation to the water, like in a SodaStream?
yes, why not. In fact it works better as the water will have greater surface area exposed to the CO2 and so dissolve in quicker.
But it works at least as well… the dissolving in is not related to gravity.
What happened in the OP’s video was that the liquid content of the can was floating around up to the hole in the can … and so with the pressure difference between inside can and outside, the CO2 constantly evolving out of the liquid and taking up more volume… , the liquid content was pumped out by the CO2…
So the video shows the astronaut going after the escaped fluid.
You could keep fizzy drinks in a plastic bag if its really strong, and then it will squirt out under high pressure… I suppose you could put a tap system on it so you can control it.
---
### Author:  [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2017, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/13 "2017-04-01T11:17:44Z")
> [@Isilder](#):
>
> You could keep fizzy drinks in a plastic bag if its really strong, and then it will squirt out under high pressure… I suppose you could put a tap system on it so you can control it.
Why on earth (see what I did there) would they even want to? Only thing I can think of is that there was a shed load of sponsorship money up for grabs.
---
### Author:  [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)
#### Post date: [April 1, 2017, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/carbonated-beverages-in-space/783414/14 "2017-04-01T15:04:54Z")
Peristalsis must be more important than ever. Must be lousy and weird not to feel things in your lower gut where they’re supposed to be.