Sodas Were Warm and Frothy : Coke, Pepsi Space War Fizzles: Astronauts Prefer Fruit Juice

Neither Coca-Cola nor Pepsi came out a winner with the Challenger astronauts who tested carbonated beverages in orbit for the first time, the astronauts said today.

Mission Commander Gordon Fullerton, in the first news conference since the astronauts returned earlier this month from their eight-day mission, said neither the Coke nor the Pepsi they sampled in space was very enjoyable.

The drinks, flown as an engineering evaluation of two designs of space beverage cans, were warm because there is no refrigeration on the shuttle. He said the drinks were full of fizz and froth.

“It’s hard to say if they would be enjoyable (if they were cold),” Fullerton said. “They weren’t at that temperature. We had no desire to drain the cans.”

He said there were no ill effects from drinking carbonated beverages in weightlessness, “but I can’t extrapolate to any great desire to have them.”

Crew members were asked if they would select the carbonated beverages over the fruit juices that normally are flown on the space shuttle if the drinks could be refrigerated. They all shook their heads.

“The drinks we have on board now are quite attractive,” astronaut Tony England said. Tastes seems to change in space, he said, adding that even though the whole crew prefers coffee on the ground, there was little coffee consumed in orbit.

Also on the mission, which ended Aug. 6, were pilot Roy Bridges, astronauts Karl Henize and Story Musgrave and scientists John-David Bartoe and Loren Acton. The mission was designed to study the sun and perform other scientific studies.