Coca-Cola became the first soft drink consumed in space when it was tested aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1985. The test took place during the shuttle’s STS-51-F mission, which launched in July 1985.
NASA and Coca-Cola developed a special container called the Coca-Cola Space Can. Ordinary carbonated drinks behave differently in microgravity because bubbles do not rise normally and liquid does not settle at the bottom of a cup. The container therefore used a valve and a straw-like drinking arrangement designed for weightlessness.
Pepsi also supplied a specially designed container on the same mission, making the flight a famous piece of space-age marketing. The event is sometimes described as a space “cola war,” reflecting the rivalry between the two companies.
The mission was not the first time astronauts had consumed liquids in space; water, juice, and other drinks had already flown. The distinction concerns commercially branded soft drinks, whose packaging had to be adapted to work safely in microgravity.