THE EFFECTS OF
MICROGRAVITY ON THE
FERMENTATION OF HONEY
USING YEAST
CO-PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS:
JACOB BOESCHEL, ELIZABETH BATES, PEYTON ADELMANN
CO-INVESTIGATORS:
DEANDRE CURRY, ALEX MARTIN, ANTHONY WATSON, LANCE WINEMILLER,
JAYCEE VANCE
COLLABORATORS:
BRITTANY JARBOE, MIRANDA STRANE-HARRIS
Practical Uses of Alcohol
Antiseptics
Beverages
Fuel
Can alcohol be made in
space?
Yes, previous successful experiments have used grape juice in microgravity
fermentation.
However, no significant difference in alcohol production was observed between
microgravity and Earth's gravity.
Our experiment uses honey in hopes of a greater difference between earth-bound and
microgravity alcohol production.
Why Honey?
Experimental Design
Independent Variable: amount of gravity
Dependent Variable: percentage alcohol content by
volumes (%ABV)
Constants: contents of tube
Basic Methodology
A 1:1 honey/deionized water solution was heated to
ensure it was homogenized.
Clamp A was clamped to the FME tube. Yeast was
placed in the FME tube's center section. Next, we
clamped Clamp B to the tube, sealing off the center
section. Then, we placed the honey/water solution in
the tube on one side of the yeast. That side was then
sealed off with a stopper. Lastly, formalin was placed
in the other side, with a stopper placed on that side
as well.
FME Tube
• Volume 1: honey/water solution
• Volume 2: yeast
• Volume 3: formalin
Clamp A will be unlatched upon arrival. The FME
tube will then be shaken vigorously, mixing the
honey/water solution and yeast.
Two days before departure, Clamp B will be
unlatched. The contents will then be shaken
vigorously, mixing the formalin with the rest of the
contents.
Data Collection and
Analysis
The diluted product will
be analyzed using a
refractometer.
% of Alcohol by volume
will be determined by
using Brix scale.
Data Collection and
Analysis
Previous trials produced %ABV that was
immeasurable by refractometer.
10-fold dilution will be used to create samples that
are measurable by the refractometer.
Acknowledgments