Alcohol has followed humanity beyond Earth, from the first sip of communion wine on the Moon to secret stashes of cognac aboard Soviet space stations. While NASA banned booze in orbit, cosmonauts embraced it as a morale booster, and modern experiments even test how whiskey matures in microgravity. The curious and often controversial history of alcohol in space reveals how culture, science and survival have shaped life far from home.
The tradition dates back to the early Soviet space programme, when doctors are said to have supplied cosmonauts with rations of cognac. One former cosmonaut later explained to NBC News: “We used it to stimulate the immune system and, overall, to keep the body in good condition.”