Hi and welcome to the bar, where we make crazy cocktails inspired by history. Like this one. This shot honors the men and women who have taken on the greatest frontier ever tackled and will leave you looking up into the night with a new appreciation for what lies beyond our skies. So, let’s go behind the bar and make this cocktail that will take you to the moon and back.
This is the Moonshot. A delicious cocktail inspired by man’s race to conquer space. But, before we move forward, let’s go back. Way back. You see, there have been a number of human species on this planet, from Neanderthals to Denisovans to Homo Sapiens, to name just a few. (Hint, we’re the last one). Our version of humanity were explorers from the beginning, walking across continents and, eventually, traveling the world. The need to push the limits, face and overcome obstacles, seek out the unknown, and understand the boundaries of existence is literally written in our genome.
You know what I’m talking about.
For example, I love exploring national parks, like. That’s what fulfills me. Some people explore the human condition in writing and art. Others are now checking out the limits of virtual reality or artificial intelligence. We can’t help ourselves. We have to explore the unknown, to find out what’s next. What do you like to do? Where does your compass point? If you could explore any frontier, which would that be? Let me know in the comments?
So, it’s no surprise then, when the seas had been tamed, the land traversed, and the skies conquered, that mankind sought out the next great challenge. Space. The final frontier.
The race to survive and, eventually, thrive, in space was not just to fulfill our deep-seeded human desire for exploration, but was also driven by another common trait of mankind. Conquest. And this brings me to our first ingredient, grapefruitcello. This cordial was inspired by the launching pads located at Cape Canaveral, in Florida, where our attempts at conquering space first began. Now, competition is normally a good thing. That is, unless two old foes are developing more and more effective ways to kill everyone on the planet. Like the United States and the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War in the 1950s and 60s.
They were like angry sisters fighting over the same guy. Or two brothers playing against each other in one-on-one basketball. Except, in this case, the ball is a bomb and the guy the girls are fighting over is an astronaut and the court is space and the good night kiss doesn’t set off fireworks, but global thermonuclear war.
It was kind of like that.
Now, after the end of World War 2, both the US and the Russians reaped the rewards that came with victory, including new technology along with the scientists who created it. I’m talking here about jets, rockets and Nazis. Combine that with the weapons that ended WW2, two atom bombs, killing over 210,000 people, and things get pretty scary. Put those weapons in space… well, that would change everything. The country that controlled space could control how close we came to total annihilation. The Space Race wasn’t just about traveling the stars, it was also about having a strategic advantage. The Space Race actually started with this… Sputnik.
Yeah, seriously. It reached low Earth orbit on October 4, 1957 and, when it did, THIS struck fear throughout the free world. This thing, or the original one, (I made this in my kitchen, but it’s about the right size) was a Soviet satellite called Sputnik and it scared the crap out of White House. But, how did they get this… (Holds up SPUTNIK) up there? (looks to the sky). Rockets, of course.
Nazi scientists, including Wehrner Von Braun, who led the development of Germany’s V2 ballistic rockets, joined America’s fledgling space program. But other Nazi scientists were captured by the Russians and it was THESE scientists that beat America to space. However, Sputnik wasn’t the end of the race, but just the first lap. And it’s Sputnik that inspires our next ingredient, Russian Vodka. The Russians continued pushing forward.
The same year, 1957, after Sputnik was launched into space, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, this time with a cosmonaut. Well, a cosmodog. Laika, a stray from the streets of Moscow, was the first mammal in space. But, since de-orbiting from low Earth orbit hadn’t been invented yet, brave Laika was launched into what was the equivalent of her own coffin, dying within hours after launch. She’s up there barking with the angels. That’s just “ruff.”
After successfully launching Luna 2 and Luna 3, just to kick us in the asteroids, the Soviets launched the first man into space in 1961. Yuri Gagarin completed the first orbital flight and became a hero of the Soviet Union. Now, while the Soviets were flexing their cosmonaut muscles, the United States had secretly captured the first spy photographs from space. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something they could announce in the New York Times.
Later that year, America began to catch up when Alan Sheppard reached space, but not orbit. And just three weeks later, the United States put a public focus on the Space Race when President John F. Kennedy gave this memorable, stirring speech.
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.”
Tragically, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1962 and would not live to see the fruits of his space ambitions. Since Kennedy was shooting for the moon, we’re going to make this cocktail a shot, in a shooter. Because we’re shooting for the stars.
The Soviets continued their dominance by sending Valentina Tereshkove, the first woman and civilian, into space in 1963. But, this was a marathon, not a sprint. The Soviets may have come out of the block like a rocket, but America, with better scientists and a stronger economy, was closing fast. Over the next few years, the United States and the Soviet Union sent spacecraft Venus and Mars, while improving their space craft… get it? Their craft skills with rockets and such? Nevermind.
Sadly, striving to conquer a new frontier has its dangers and the Space Race was not without a cost. 1967 was tragic for both countries. For the United States, astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed on the launch pad when a fire consumed the command module.
In the Soviet Union, cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was killed when his parachute on the Soyuz 1 spacecraft failed to deploy. It’s the bitterness of the loss of human life that inspired our next ingredient, blood red grenadine. However, America took the lead in the Space Race for good in 1969 when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to step onto the moon. In true brash American style, the United States landed on the moon FIVE more times over the next three years. It was the lunar definition of “been there, done that.” C’mere.
Did you know, while in space astronauts saw some weird and spooky stuff? One claimed he saw an 8 ft snake in space. During Apollo 10 they heard music. In 1963, they saw a fleet of UFOs. Others saw a reflective light on the surface of the moon, one heard the sound of someone knocking on the craft, while some report that Neil Armstrong, when first stepping on the moon, exclaimed he could see large alien crafts lined up on a nearby crater, saying to NASA, “These babies were huge, sir! Enormous! You wouldn’t believe it! They’re on the moon watching us!” Crazy, right?
In the years that followed, there were space stations, planetary exploration and reusable space shuttles. But, the Space Race affected more than technology and global strategies, it also had an immense impact on American culture. Wehmer Von Braun even worked with Walt Disney to produce a series of films to popularize space exploration. Like any new frontier, the creative minds in Hollywood used it as a blank canvas to explore our dreams and fears. There was the hopeful fun of the Jetsons and Star Trek, to the ominous space-themed tales of the Twilight Zone. And it didn’t stop there. You may have heard of the worldwide phenomenon movie inspired by the space race… Space Jam! Oh, and Star Wars. And 2001: A Space Odyssey, Or shows like Lost in Space? Characters like Duck Dodgers from Looney Tunes. If you’re my age, do you remember Treasure Planet? I LOVED that movie. It was as if the classic story, Treasure Island, and steampunk had a baby and put it in space! Awesome, right?
Our quest for space didn’t just benefit the astronauts, it also brought in the advent of new products, such as space age polymers, which led to aerogels, a heat-resistant insulation that can survive up to 600 degrees, is ultralight, and non-toxic. And, no, we’re not sponsored by them. 🙂
The Space Race also impacted what we ate and drank. It inspired dehydrated foods and food cubes. For the consumers at home, the space race brought about drinks like Tang, and snacks like Food Sticks and frozen Dippin’ Dots (which I loved as a kid, that is when I could convince my dad to buy them for me at sporting events). And it’s these innovations that changed our lives which inspires our last ingredient, Tang. During its heyday, the Space Race gave America a sense of pride and hope, inspiring a future that included lunar bases, humans inhabiting Mars and, perhaps, finding out we’re not alone in the universe.
Now, it’s become part of the human experience, a frontier that deserves further exploration, and, of course, a cocktail in its honor. So, we have our story and we have our ingredients, put them together like a multi-stage rocket and make our cocktail, the Moonshot. Fortunately for mankind, we’ve progressed considerably since man landed on the moon over 60 years ago. I mean, we’re not at war with Russia or anything…. Oh wait. Well, at least we’re not competing with other nations for space dominance… oh crap. At least we’re past the whole communism vs. capitalism… this is trending in the wrong direction. At least we’re not fighting a cold war with a communist superpower… oh man.
Oh, I have one! At least we no longer called UFOs UFOs. They are now being identified as UAPS. So we have that. That’s more politically correct, right? So… progress! Humanity will keep exploring the unknown and I’ll keep exploring new ways to make historically inspired cocktails.
Why? You know the answer. Say it with me. Because history is better with a drink.
