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These could be the most ‘high-end’ wines in the world. In fact, make that the universe.
A case of fine French wine has been sent into orbit aboard the International Space Station as part of an experiment that will see the effects of weightlessness and solar radiation on ageing with the goal of opening up new techniques for different flavours.
The bottles flew up aboard a Northrop Grumman capsule that launched from Virginia last week and docked with the IS three days later.
Universities from Bordeaux, France, and Bavaria, Germany, are taking part in the experiment by Space Cargo Unlimited, a Luxembourg start-up. It is the first of six space missions planned over the next three years.
"Winemaking uses both yeast and bacteria, and involves chemical processes, making wine ideal for space study," said University of Erlangen-Nuremberg's Michael Lebert, the experiment's scientific director, in a company video.
This is not the first wine to orbit the earth however, a French astronaut brought a bottle onboard space shuttle Discovery in 1985 which remained corked for the entire mission and it's not the first beverage to be launched into outer space as both whisky and beer have undergone similar experiments.
And the type of wine that was sent into space? Bordeaux, naturally.
