| Alcoholic drinks are beverages, containing not less than 1.5% ethyl alcohol, obtained from edible, carbohydrate containing raw materials.
Manufacturing methods:
Main method of obtaining the drinks is biological fermentation. During fermentation, apart from ethyl alcohol, series of other substances are formed which are collectively called fusel oils and also highly volatile aldehydes and furfurols. Volatile admixtures and fusel oils possess high toxicity and hence, they are removed with the help of distillation from hard drinks (first and last distillate respectively), purification by activated charcoal, intermediate oxidation (For example: Potassium permanganate) and etc. Drinks, which are not subjected to distillation and purification (Such as beer and wine), differ by high content of fusel oils.
Generally, drinks are collectively branded as alcohol. Abuse of drinks practically always leads to alcoholism in persons, predisposed to alcohol. In some cases, alcohol overdose leads to hang-over.
Types of alcoholic beverages:
Amongst the drinks, low alcohol content beverages are available, which are produced through fermentation of sugar or starch containing products and beverages with high alcohol content, which are produced through distillation of beverages with low alcohol content. Sometimes, alcohol content is increased in low alcohol content beverages by adding distillation products and especially, wine is produced in such manner. Port and sherry are such types of fortified wines.
Manufacturing process (and also obtained alcohol content) is determined by the product, being produced. For “Beer”, relatively short (incomplete) fermentation period is used and also short-term ageing process (one-two weeks) and as a result, the alcohol content does not usually exceeds 3-8%. “Wine” implies longer complete fermentation period and relatively longer ageing period (months or years, sometimes 10 yrs) as a result of which, the alcohol content constitutes 7 – 18%. (Sparkling wines are usually manufactured with the addition of small quantity of sugar before bottling). Distillation products are generally not produced from “Beer beverages” and these beverages are not aged till the end of distillation process. In several distilled beverages, alcohol content is 40%.
Some insights into space tourism, and what space tourists should expect from their space trip: So that the health problems in orbit do not upset the flight program, the space tourist will undergo medical checkups at the Institute of Biomedical Problems, the Russian Academy of Sciences. Candidates will be selected on the same principles as professional astronauts: medical records are studied, a comprehensive physical examination and review are done and then functional stress tests on a bicycle ergometer and vestibular apparatus check are conducted. Finally, the candidate shall be given bench tests - centrifuge, pressure chamber and other tests.
The minimum preparation period for flight into space, both technically and medically, is six months. During this period, the candidate studies the mechanism of spacecraft "Soyuz", acquaints with weightlessness in the hydropool and on a specially equipped plane, participates in the so-called "survival" in the forest and sea training in the Black Sea - in case of an emergency landing.
As doctors joke, healthy patients do not exist but exist undiagnosed. Therefore, some or the other abnormality is found in almost every candidate. The risks are classified with respect to influence on the flight program. It's another thing, if it relates only to the well-being of the tourist. So it was, for example, with the already mentioned Japanese journalist Toyohiro Akiyama, who, during the entire flight period, suffered from "space sickness” - a vestibular disorder, caused by weightlessness, which, however, did not prevent him to write the book "The Pleasure of Spaceflight". It's worse when the condition of a healthy tourist needs to be dealt with by the rest of the crew. And, the possibility of an emergency return to Earth is absolutely unacceptable.
Flying permission is given if the risk of medical problems in a year does not exceed 1-2% and does not affect the expedition program. Otherwise, a special document - waiver (“deviation from rules") is prepared. It is prepared very carefully: all the scientific publications on the disease are collected and tests are done and medical experts are being engaged. At the end, physicians specify whether they can cope with the situation & considering certain risks, deviate from the rules. The final decision is certainly on the basis of the consensus, taken by the ISS Multilateral Space Medicine Board, comprising the representatives of all space agencies participating in the project.
Of the six space tourists, Mark Shuttleworth turned out to be the healthiest one. Doctors virtually had no complaints on his health condition. Serious abnormalities in the respiratory and cardiovascular systems were found in Gregory Olsen. He had to undergo surgery, one year in rehabilitation and only after that, he could continue training and successfully go to ISS. |
NASA vowed to follow-up a serious investigation on the alleged alcohol abuse by its astronauts. The free access to alcoholic drinks by the NASA astronaut crew lead to flight safety concerns, after several reports of alcohol intoxication on the pre-flight training camp, and those astronauts were not deemed suitable to fly.
