This Coca-Cola can was flown on Space Shuttle Challenger during the STS 51F mission in July 1985. It was part of an experiment designed to study the behavior of liquids, especially carbonated liquids, in microgravity, an environment that is not under the influence of Earth’s gravity. The experiment demonstrated that the carbonation (carbon dioxide) of these drinks affects both the movement and behavior of carbonated liquids in space.

During the experiment, astronauts noted that the bubbles that result from carbonated liquids behaved differently than on Earth. In microgravity, the bubbles had no preferred direction of movement like they do on Earth where they rise upwards instead. Also, in microgravity, the bubbles tended to cluster together and grow larger which is not the case on Earth. Finally, the astronauts observed that opening the can in space caused a more chaotic release of the carbon dioxide in all directions rather than rising straight up as it would on Earth.