THERE WILL BE BEER IN SPACE
The irst low-Earth-orbit hotel, Aurora
Station, aims to welcome space tourists
by 2022. Though the unbuilt four-guest
luxury hotel has countless technical
hurdles ahead, one vacation amenity
is covered: the beer. Jaron Mitch-
ell, cofounder of Australia’s 4 Pines
Brewing, saw the growing interest
in space tourism in 2010 and began
developing a recipe to satisfy travel-
ers in microgravity. “The challenges
are carbonation, taste, and pouring,”
says Mitchell. Because there’s no up
in microgravity to direct carbonation,
a terrestrial beer will separate into
large beer-covered bubbles that result
in uncomfortable wet burps. And
astronauts have reported a dulled sense
of taste, so the beer had to impress
blunted palates. 4 Pines settled on an
ampliied Irish-style stout, rich with
heavily roasted barley, that still felt andtasted like great beer with minimal
carbonation. Next, 4 Pines partnered
with Saber Astronautics to create the
irst beer bottle for space. “With no
gravity to pour, beer is stuck in a bottle
from surface tension,” says Jason Held,
CEO of Saber Astronautics. Astronauts
use squeezable bags and straws to
drink, but Saber and 4 Pines wanted
to re-create the experience of drink-
ing from a bottle. Taking a technology
used in fuel tanks, Saber put a wicking
insert in the bottle that pulls the liquid
out and tested it in lights on a reduced-
gravity aircraft—similar to NASA’s
infamous Vomit Comet. Thirsty space
travelers press a button on the bottle
to open the cap and let the stout low.
Held recommends bringing the bottle
up to your mouth but not tipping it
back. In low-gravity tests, this sloshed
the liquid around the bottle.When I decided to become a good photographer, the
hardest part, after accepting the cost of truly good
lenses, has been measuring light. My full-sensor
digital-camera body and 55mm f/1.2 prime lens get
adequate exposures on the dreariest days with the automatic settings. But those “average” a picture to
mediocrity: Everything is in focus but nothing stands out. You need a light meter to measure the layering
of light. That way, for example, you can add your own backlighting for a more dramatic efect. Decent
light meters cost upward of $500 and often don’t measure color temperature, the way a color looks based
on the light. The Lumu Power ($299), however, plugs into any iOS 8+ device to measure lash, ambient
exposure, and color temperature, and to determine ideal lash exposure. Just select two of the three criti-
cal values (shutter speed, ISO, or aperture) and pop your lash. —Dan Dubno
TURN YOUR iPHONE INTO
A PRO-GRADE LIGHT METER
THE BACKPACK
BUILT TO
CARRY THE
KITCHEN SINK
carrying 60 meters of rope, ice axes, and
a base camp, including the kitchen, into thin alpine air.the weight to one side. And
a bearing at the base of the
pack lets the hip straps
pivot up and down with
your stride while keeping
the weight stabilized.The 4 Pines
Stout is
currently
available in
Australia. The
space-ready
Vostok Space
Beer Bottle (far
right) will go on
sale next year
for $90.
The North Face
tapped the guides
at Alpine Ascents
International to test
prototypes over
three-day trips
on Mount Rainier.38 JULY/AUGUST _ 201