KFC's 'Kentucky' was born after NASA sent chicken eggs to space
The project began with a schoolboy's idea to study how chicken embryos develop in microgravity.
In the 1980s, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) funded a significant space experiment involving chicken embryos, aiming to study their development in microgravity. Ninth-grader John Vellinger from Indiana proposed the idea to NASA, who awarded the project $50,000 in funding. The experiment, known as "Chix in Space," sought to determine if gravity's absence would affect the development of chicken embryos, potentially advancing knowledge on food sources and human reproduction in space.
Vellinger and engineer Mark Deuser built the specialized incubator, which could withstand the harsh conditions of rocket launches. Sadly, the experiment was never launched due to the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986, which resulted in the loss of all 32 chicken embryos. However, KFC and NASA remained interested in the project, and the incubator eventually became part of a museum collection.
Written by urgent.news from Hindustan Times - World News's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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