A Toast to Alcohol in Space

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: This episode spans space-news updates, a feature on Emily Loctewala’s Planetary Report and her transition from editor-in-chief, and a long interview with Chris Carberry about his book "Alcohol in Space." The conversation traces alcohol’s cultural history, its appearances in spaceflight and science fiction, and current research on brewing, aging, carbonation, and agriculture for future off-Earth settlements. Bruce Betts closes with skywatching notes and a trivia contest.

Main Topics: ESA budget decisions and mission news: Jason Davis previews major European Space Agency funding outcomes, including HERA, Mars Sample Return hardware, Gateway components, and a lunar lander effort. Planetary Report highlights and Emily Loctewala’s transition: Emily summarizes the December solstice issue, centered on Mars Exploration Rover lessons, ExoMars, and other features, then explains she is stepping back from editorship to return to writing. Chris Carberry’s book: alcohol in space: Carberry discusses his research-heavy book on the history, present experiments, and future possibilities of alcohol beyond Earth, emphasizing that the topic is serious, not just comedic. Alcohol’s cultural role in human history and spaceflight: The interview argues alcohol has accompanied human civilization for millennia and has already appeared in space missions, from Apollo 8 to the ISS, often in small, diplomatic, or symbolic amounts. Space industry experiments with beer, wine, whiskey, and glassware: Examples include beer and barley work with Space Tango and Anheuser-Busch, whiskey aging experiments by Suntory and Ardbeg, Bordeaux aging on the ISS, and devices designed to drink in microgravity. Space agriculture and settlement enablers: The discussion widens to crops, Martian and lunar soil simulants, perchlorates, and ongoing experiments like Eu:CROPIS, framing agriculture as essential for sustainable human activity off Earth. Bruce Betts’ sky report and trivia: The segment covers Jupiter’s seasonal disappearance, Venus-Saturn conjunction, Mars, Orion, the Geminids, notable space-history dates, and a contest about the renamed Arrokoth.

Key Arguments: Alcohol is likely to remain part of human culture in space because it has been deeply embedded in civilization for over 10,000 years. The history of alcohol in space is real and documented, including ceremonial and diplomatic uses, not just jokes or myths. Space-based beverage research can yield useful secondary benefits, especially in fluid dynamics, container design, carbonation behavior, and microgravity agriculture. Settling or operating on the Moon or Mars will likely require local food production, making space agriculture a critical enabling technology. Science fiction and real aerospace efforts both assume alcohol will continue to exist in future space societies, making the topic culturally and technologically relevant. Carberry argues that a dedicated organization focused on alcohol in space and related technologies is timely and likely to be announced soon.

Data Points: Mars drill depth: about 2 meters - Javier Gomez-Elvira’s discussion of ExoMars’ deep drill for searching signs of past life Book interviewees: probably 50 to 60 experts - Carberry describes the breadth of his research and interviews for the book Apollo 8 brandy bottles: 3 bottles - Alcohol sent as a holiday gag during the Apollo 8 mission Space communion wine: 1 documented instance - Buzz Aldrin’s communion ceremony on the Moon ISS Bordeaux experiment: 12 bottles - Wine launched to the ISS for aging experiments Whiskey aging duration example: 2011 to 2015 - Ardbeg’s first space whiskey aging experiment timeframe as described in the interview Geminids peak: December 13-14 - Bruce Betts’ skywatching forecast Long ISS spacewalk duration: 8 hours 56 minutes - STS-102 EVA by James Voss and Susan Helms Longest single spacewalk: just shy of 9 hours - Bruce Betts summarizes the record-setting EVA duration HERA visit date: 2026 - ESA mission to visit asteroid Didymos after DART impact Humans to Mars Summit dates: May 12-14, 2020 - Explore Mars summit announcement during the interview Humans to Mars target year: 2033 - Mentioned as a Mars human-mission goal in the summit discussion

Pivotal Quotes: "I want to write. I desperately want to write, and I have not had time." — Emily Loctewala: Explaining why she is stepping aside from the Planetary Report editorship "There will be alcohol in space, and frankly, already has been." — Chris Carberry: Carberry’s core thesis about the inevitability and existing reality of alcohol beyond Earth "It has played an interesting and important diplomatic role to be able to bond the crews, these international crews, in sometimes a challenging situation." — Chris Carberry: On the social and crew-bonding role of small alcohol servings in space

Implications: The episode frames off-Earth alcohol not as a novelty but as a serious lens on culture, logistics, and life-support research. It suggests future space settlement will depend on agriculture, fluid science, and human-centered design, while also showing how science communication institutions are evolving.