Space Cola Wars

In the Space Cola Wars, the major soft drink competitors Coca-Cola and Pepsi engaged in a costly marketing campaigns and product tests to get their beverages into space, in continuation of the so-called "Cola Wars". The competition began in 1985 during the STS-51-F Space Shuttle mission, when astronauts tested specially designed soda cans from each company to see how the carbonated drinks would perform in microgravity. In a widely publicized experiment, Coca-Cola's sophisticated fluid dispenser performed better than Pepsi's modified shaving cream can in dispensing drinkable soda.

Over the next decade, Coca-Cola continued developing enhanced space-rated soda dispensers that flew on subsequent shuttle missions to further study the effects of carbonation and taste perception in weightlessness. In 1996, Pepsi paid $300 million to create the first TV advertisement filmed in space aboard the Russian Mir space station.