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Ballantines/YouTube

This futuristic glass lets astronauts drink whiskey in space

*Provided you’ve figured out a way to travel into space.

A DRINKS COMPANY HAS developed a whiskey glass that can be used in an zero-gravity environment.

Scotch whiskey maker Ballantine’s got the Open Space Agency, a citizen group that engages in space projects, to develop a glass that could both hold liquor and control its movement so you could drink from it.

The result is a rounded off glass that can create the necessary surface tension to hold the liquor down.

whiskey glass 2 Ballantines / YouTube Ballantines / YouTube / YouTube

On the outside, it looks like a traditional glass, but there are a number of mechanisms hidden away to ensure your drink stays in place.

For one, the glass is made from 3D-printed PLA plastic – the same materials and process that’s used for heart valves – while the base plate is made out of stainless steel.

Inside the base is a 10kg pull magnet, allowing you to put the glass down on a metal table or wall.

A custom loading nozzle is inserted into a one-way valve located at the base of the glass, allowing someone to ‘pour’ a drink without spilling it.

When someone wants to drink it, the liquor itself passes through valves on the side of the glass all the way up to the mouthpiece.

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The glass was tested at the ZARM Zero-G Drop Tower in Bremen, Germany, to see if it worked in microgravity.

Ballantines / YouTube

It’s not the first time the topics of whiskey and space have met. Late last month, an unmanned cargo ship loaded with emergency supplies – including whiskey – were sent up to the International Space Station.

The whiskey was sent up as part of a science experiment to see how time in a zero-gravity environment affects its taste.

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Author
Quinton O'Reilly
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