NASA taps 6th-grader to help brew beer in space

Student's experiment wins national competition

HIGHLANDS RANCH, Colo. – Although he will have to wait a decade to drink it, NASA has asked a sixth-grader to help astronauts brew beer in space.

Eleven-year-old Michal Bodzianowski won the annual Student Spaceflight Experiments competition with his suds-focused microgravity experiment. NASA will transport his minilab to the International Space Station in December.

Bodzianowski's experiment has more to do with medicine and health than partying at the ISS. NASA hopes astronauts can use the alcohol to clean wounds or kill dangerous bacteria on new planets.

Astronauts will receive a tube filled with hops, malted barley, yeast and water. To create the beer, the ISS crew will shake the contents to discover if Bodzianowski's beer can ferment in space.