News from Space

[BruceAir]

Russian Cosmonaut Says Alcohol Should Be Allowed on ISS

MosNews


Russian cosmonaut Salizhan Sharipov, just back from space, said that alcohol should be allowed on the International Space Station as it helps to cope with stress and enhances performance, the RIA-Novosti news agency reports.


http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/04/27/spacedrink.shtml

 

[Richard]

Russian Cosmonaut Says Alcohol Should Be Allowed on ISS

That's a good comrade.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

Russian Cosmonaut Says Alcohol Should Be Allowed on ISS

That's a good comrade.

I'd be disappointed in the Ruskies if they don't already have a cosmic ray fired still in the works.

 

[Frank Browne]

If they start sending up good sour mash, I'm volunteering for escort duty.

 

[Richard]

Let's see, what kind of 'experiment' would it have to be to be able to pass the scientific review and be able to smuggle in the sour mash?

Or, what is already on board which could make a good distillate? I think Sierra should be the payload specialist on this...have it on my desk by 0900 tomorrow.

 

[MSmith]

Would a still work in zero gravity? I thought a key component of a still was that alcohol boiled off and rose above the mash to be cooled.

Wouldn't you just get a foamy mash in zero G?

 

[Richard]

Would a still work in zero gravity? I thought a key component of a still was that alcohol boiled off and rose above the mash to be cooled.

Wouldn't you just get a foamy mash in zero G?

Does a condenser need gravity to work?

Hey, this is beginning to sound like a project. Anyone here good at writing grants?

 

[SJP]

Does a condenser need gravity to work?

Hey, this is beginning to sound like a project. Anyone here good at writing grants?

Well, I would assume that condensate would still form on the condensors elements, but there would be no gravity to pull it off and collect it - you'd have to spin it or something to make the condensate travel to the collection point...

So...mount your still on a turntable or something - Stirred, not shaken

 

[MSmith]

Hey, that'd work. Make the mash microwaved inside a spherical glass vessel with a tube at one end (like a rounded flask) and let the condensate spin out.

It'd make the plumbing tough unless you spun the whole thing. However, that'd make the condensers easier - they'd drain outward.

"Control, request permission to de-spin the still to add some fruit"

 

[Richard]

"Control, request permission to de-spin the still to add some fruit"

How fortunate I swallowed my coffee just before I read that line. That is too f funny, especially when you visualize it.

You know, there was an excellant sci fi movie released some years ago which featured the antics of a crew on a ship drifting across the universe. One guy got zapped by a laser, another surfed along with the Geminides eventually returning to earth, another was attacked by an alien who strangely resembled a plump red tomato. I can see it now.