This is why 12 bottles of French red wine were sent to the International Space Station

The reason behind why 12 bottles of French Red Wine were sent to the International Space Station for a science experiment on November 2, has finally been revealed. According to scientists conducting the study, the bottles were sent in order to understand how weightlessness and radiation in space affected the ageing process of wine. There is not much information available on the wine bottles but according to reports, the wine bottles will be sent back to earth after a period of one year so that they could be compared to the wine ageing on earth in a controlled environment of 18 degrees celsius.

Experiment to study the ageing process of wine

According to NASA, the science experiment will help them understand the process of ageing of complex multi-component liquids in an environment in space. The goal of the experiment is to create flavours for the hospitality industry. Co-founder of Space Cargo Unlimited, Nicolas Gaume, said it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. However, a French astronaut had taken a wine bottle of Chateau Lynch Bages 1975 in the year 1985.

The 12 bottles of red Bordeaux wine was carried aboard the Northrop Grumman capsule which was launched on November 2. The experiment is being conducted by a Luxembourg-based start-up, called Space Cargo Unlimited along with the Universities of Bordeaux, France, and Bavaria, Germany. The reason why wine was chosen for the experiment is that it involves the use of both yeast and bacteria and a chemical reaction, which makes it ideal for a space experiment.

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'Robot hotel'

NASA recently announced that it will be attaching a 'robot hotel' outside of the International Space Station (ISS). The 'robot hotel' that was launched on December 4 aboard the 19th SpaceX commercial resupply mission will help in identifying leaks from the station. According to reports, the robots will also provide heat and physical protection from radiation to the International Space Station. The 'robot hotel' known as Robotic Tool Stowage (RiTS) was launched with two robots onboard known as Robotic External Leak Locators (RELL). The first RELL unit was launched in 2015, and after the success of the project, a second RELL unit was launched earlier this year.

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(With inputs from agencies)