Starship Asterisk*

Not sure it'd be my cup of tea, so to speak, but if a space tourist wants to kick back and sip a brewski on the ride, there may be one on the beverage list.

Testing on a space beer is scheduled to begin in November -- not by NASA, our staid civil space agency has a strict no-alcohol policy. Instead, a nonprofit research group called Astronauts4Hire is doing the honors aboard Zero Gravity Corp.'s airplane, which simulates the microgravity environment of space by making parabolic dives.

Participants will taste the beer, which has been specially brewed by the Sydney, Australia-based 4-Pines Brewing Co., and test how drinkable it is during the microgravity portions of the plane ride.

4-Pines worked with a startup space engineering firm, Saber Astronautics Australia, on developing the beer, which the companies hope to certify for spaceflight. Of course, it’ll be available for terrestrial consumption as well.

It’s the first paying job for Astronauts4Hire, which lists 17 partners on its website (no astronauts, but as a group they hold 40 college degrees).

As part of the research, the lucky participant will wear sensors to monitor his or her body temperature, heart rate, and blood alcohol level. Perhaps alcohol may turn out to mitigate zero gravity-induced nausea.

Bottom’s up!

It may not come in time for Oktoberfest, but the world's first beer to be certified for consumption in space will soon undergo tests in weightlessness to see if it is brewed with the right stuff.

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