But Can They Order a Burger and Fries?

The first soda fountain in space will be aboard NASA’s space shuttle Discovery on its next flight, courtesy of Coca-Cola Co. Half the shuttle’s six-astronaut crew will drink Coca-Cola and Diet Coke during the flight scheduled for launch Feb. 2. A series of experiments will study taste-perception changes in space travelers.

The astronauts will use a special dispenser developed by scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder’s BioServe Space Technologies Center. Atlanta-based Coca-Cola spent about $750,000 on the enclosed dispensing system.