A lot of cool things have been happening in space lately. We got our first up-close look at Pluto. We landed on a comet. The Mars Rover is still out there, chugging along. And an astronaut is currently serving a year in space, while his twin brother is here on Earth — they’ll study the space-bound brother when he gets back to see what's changed in him, compared to his Earth-bound brother. With all this cool stuff happening, what could us humans think to do next?

Well, if you guessed, "Age some Japanese whisky in space," you're correct. Suntory Holdings Ltd., a Japanese brewing and distilling company, is sending a couple of its whiskies up into space aboard the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency’s transfer vehicle Kounotori. There, the bottles will spend a year or two floating aboard the International Space Station.

Suntory will be sending up six glass flasks containing 10-, 18-, and 21-year-old whiskies, as well as other assorted spirits. Whisky aficionados will have heard of Suntory, as its Yamazaki Single Malt Sherry Cask 2013 was named the best in the world by the prestigious Jim Murray's Whisky Bible 2015.

Research will be conducted on all of the alcohol once it’s safely returned to earth. And studies will aim to find out whether or not the zero gravity of space has any effect on the aging process. Unfortunately for whisky drinkers, there are no current plans for the whisky to be consumed once it returns. There are also no current plans to apply any results from the research into the commercial products Suntory has.

If you’re wondering why in the world — or space, rather — people are paying to rocket whisky away, the spokespeople from Suntory have said that, because of the constant temperature and minimal liquid movement that zero gravity provides, the whisky should come back with a much mellower taste.

Whisky has been in incredibly high demand ever since the hit television period drama “Massan” aired in Japan. The show follows the true story of a Japanese entrepreneur and his Scottish wife who are credited with establishing Japan's first whisky distillery.

It will be interesting to see whether or not other breweries or distilleries follow Suntory’s suit. Perhaps they will wait to see what zero gravity does, and then we’ll all be drinking “space-cold” beers and stratosphere-reserve malts. Until then, however, we’ll just enjoy the Earth-based alcohol that’s within our reach.