Moonshine is going to the moon. Well, almost.
A Connecticut distillery plans to launch a 750-milliliter bottle of moonshine 22 miles into space next month. It will be the first time a full-sized bottle of liquor leaves the earth’s atmosphere.
“Onyx Moonshine is all about attempting things that haven’t been done before, which is the true essence of the American spirit,” Onyx Spirits Company co-founder Adam von Gootkin said in a statement Tuesday. “It’s amazing to think that 150 years ago our ancestors were arrested for illegally selling moonshine and here we are, legally sending a bottle into space. This is just one small adventure of many more to come.”
Company officials will fasten the bottle of liquor to an aeronautical weather balloon, along with a rock glass and silver platter, and launch it into space May 2.
The apparatus – two years in the making – is equipped with GoPro cameras, GPS technology, a radar deflector, parachute and foam covering to protect the bottle when it lands on Long Island Sound.
Rain dates are slated for May 3, 9 and 10 in case weather gets in the way. The exact time and location of the launch is still to be determined, but the East Hartford distillery said it will take place somewhere in western Connecticut.
Onyx Moonshine, which got its start in 2011, announced the launch in observance of Earth Day and the company’s “commitment to sustainable business practices.” The distillery produces the country’s first ultra-premium moonshine and New England’s first aged whiskey.
