posted 07-18-2008 12:57 PM               

An astronaut would dispense the carbonated drink of choice into a "Fluids Transfer Unit" or sealed drinking cup through a quick connect on the dispenser. Made from clear polycarbonate, the FTU was based on the design of the Coca-Cola Space Can first flown in 1985 and held up to seven ounces. The design incorporated a unique baffle and thin vanes at its bottom to keep the liquid and carbon dioxide (CO2) from separating.

Eighteen (18) of the "space cups" and the dispenser first flew on shuttle Discovery's STS-63 mission in 1995.

Fluids Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus-1 (FGBA-1)

The Fluids Generic Processing Apparatus-1 is the first of three commercial payloads being developed by BioServe Space Technologies. BioServe is a NASA Center for the Commercial Development of Space (CCDS) located at the University of Colorado, Boulder. A consortium of private businesses, universities and government, including The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, GA; Martin Marietta, Denver, CO; Ohmeda, Boulder, CO; University of Colorado, Boulder; Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS; and NASA's Office of Space Access and Technology, Washington, DC, have combined resources to sponsor the FGBA commercial program.

The consortium has a major long-range objective in advancing fluid management technology in microgravity. Consistent with this objective, this first BioServe FGBA experiment represents a significant opportunity to obtain fundamental data on containment, manipulation and transfer of pressurized, supersaturated two-phase fluids. During STS-63, this program is expected to further the commercial objectives of The Coca-Cola Company in developing both terrestrial and space applications. The Coca-Cola Company has a strong interest in developing hardware to carbonate water on demand and to mix and dispense beverages with minimal loss of carbonation. Developing technology to accomplish these objectives in microgravity may likely evolve into terrestrial applications that could further the long-range research and development objectives of The Coca-Cola Company.

This flight will provide baseline data on changes in astronauts' taste perception of beverages consumed in microgravity. The beverages to be used in the evaluation are Coca-Cola and diet Coke. The taste perception changes experienced by astronauts on-orbit will be compared to their taste perception of these beverages in matched pre- and post-flight ground controls involving the same crew members.

Dr. George Morgenthaler, Director of the BioServe CCDS, is Program Manager for the FGBA experiment. Drs. Louis Stodieck and Alex Hoehn, also of BioServe, are responsible for mission management. Dr. Ashis Gupta is the principal engineer for this experiment for The Coca-Cola Company.

FGBA-2

Unlike Pepsi's efforts in space, which were primarily for promotion, Coca-Cola made a serious investment into their research. In addition to a desire to offer carbonated beverages for astronauts, Coca-Cola was also observing the effects of space flight on changes in taste perception with the goal of understanding altered tastes in specific target populations on Earth, such as the elderly.

posted 07-31-2008 02:08 AM               

Air bubbles were a problem on a couple of the shuttle flights when too much air was added to some of the astronauts' drinks and it can result in some gas pain discomfort. I recall it happened on one of Tom Jones' flights (as documented in his book "Sky Walking") and until a fix was developed, one of the other crewmembers came up with a technique to spin his drink bags so the gas would "rise" to the top while the fluid would go to the bottom.

Now if we ever get back to the Moon or land on Mars (or come up with an artificial gravity environment, ala Space Station 5 in 2001), then I can see such drinks potentially becoming popular tastes of home. Granted I suppose that Coke might have also done some research into using less CO2 in their drinks for space while still trying to maintain the same tingling flavor on the taste buds. I suppose if a better refrigeration system were utilized (stick it in the freezer on the ISS!) then I could also see a use for Coke flavored ice pops of some sort. They wouldn't be carbonated, but would be cold and tastey I imagine, sort of like a Coke float in space.

posted 08-11-2020 12:15 AM               

'Space cola wars' at 35: When Coca-Cola, Pepsi tested soda in space

John-David Bartoe was having none of it.

A payload specialist aboard a 1985 flight of the space shuttle Challenger, Bartoe sequestered himself away from his six crewmates. He was glad to be on his first mission and even happier to have made it safely into space after what was the space shuttle program's first and only abort-to-orbit, but becoming one of the first astronauts to drink Coca-Cola or Pepsi off Earth was a sip too far.

"I thought it was frivolous and detracting from the science of the mission. I didn't like it all," said Bartoe, reflecting 35 years later on what the media dubbed then the "space cola wars." "I said, 'I'm not going to do it, I think it it's a terrible idea.'"

posted 08-13-2020 10:55 AM               

Anyway, here are the two famous photos of the two cans.

posted 08-13-2020 11:53 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by denali414:
Still hoping someone knows how many of the Pepsi cans were made.

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