Roughly two days after a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, sending 4,800 pounds of supplies and experiments inside a Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station, the uncrewed capsule was picked up by the station’s robotic arm at 5:57 a.m. EST (1057 GMT) on Sunday.
Some of the supplies onboard SpaceX’s used cargo ship included experiments for the manufacturing of fiber-optic filaments in microgravity, along with a sensor that will be used for measuring space debris around the station.
Also onboard the spacecraft was barley seeds from Budweiser, as part of a 30-day experiment to study how they will grow and react in a micro-gravity environment. Budweiser’s experiment will be one of 329 ongoing tests being conducted on the space station.
Delivering the critical ingredient for making beer into space is part of Budweiser’s plan to become the leading brewer for a future space civilization. The company pledged at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, that it would make the first beer on Mars.
“Budweiser is always pushing the boundaries of innovation and we are inspired by the collective American Dream to get to Mars,” said Budweiser’s VP, Ricardo Marques at SXSW. “We are excited to begin our research to brew beer for the red planet.”
Marques drew attention to the company’s “relentless focus on innovation”, which is seemingly inline with the message being made by parent company Anheuser-Busch, after it announced that it will add 40 Tesla Semi trucks to its supply chain.
“It’s a dream that builds off of our relentless focus on innovation,” said the Budweiser VP. “When we can enjoy a few ice-cold Buds on the Red Planet, that will be the moment when we can truly realize our dreams of space colonization.”
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule will remain berthed to the space station for approximately one month before returning to earth. The spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Baja California for recovery by SpaceX.
