You may soon be able to get beer made with hops that have flown in space thanks to Shift4 Payment's CEO Jared Isaacman. Until now space and beer have had a frothy history together. Astronauts are not allowed to bring beer or any carbonated beverage into space as without gravity to keep liquids at the bottom of their stomachs, the gas at the top would force astronauts to produce wet burps. Making alcohol in space would be particularly difficult due to distillation being impossible thanks to the lack of gravity, although research is being done on the subject.
This will not be the first time beer hops have been sent into space, with Budweiser launching barley into orbit to study the malting process in zero gravity in a bid to be the first beer on Mars. "Ground Control," a beer brewed with yeast that was once in space has also been produced in 2014 by UP Aerospace. The space adventure for the yeast had no effect on the taste of the drink, so no blaming gravity if the beer isn't to your taste.
Jared Isaacman, CEO of Shift4 Payments, announced in a tweet that the team will be taking 70lbs of hops into space. Currently, the billionaire is looking to auction the hops, which will be taken further into space than the Hubble Telescope, to a brewery willing to process them into a beverage. The hops will be auctioned off to raise money for the St Jude Children's Research Hospital, a medical institution that specializes in pediatric cancer treatments based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Space And Beer For A Good Cause
Isaacman's company, Shift4 Payments, a secure payment processing solutions company founded in 1999, is at present worth $731.4 million. Jared Isaacman is a former aerobatics pilot, which makes him a good fit for a space mission. His mission will be part of the Inspiration4 chartered SpaceX flight along with three other civilians. The flight is the first all civilian launch into space and is due to take off 15th of September 2021.
Isaacman donated two of the four seats on the all-private flight. One ticket went to Hayley Arceneaux, who works at St Jude Hospital and is a survivor of bone cancer. A seat was also given to the fundraising raffle winner Christopher Sembroski. The charitable raffle generated $13 million worth of proceeds for the children's hospital which runs in tandem with the $100 million Isaacman pledged to donate. The final passenger is Sian Proctor, winner of a contest run by Isaacmans company. If you have a thirst for space beer it could be on your horizon and for a good cause.
Source: Jared Isaacman, Inspiration4