In the year of the 50th anniversary of America's epic moon landing, new space history is being made. The first food is being baked in space, and it's the signature welcome baked good of this hotel chain.
Travelers who've stayed at a DoubleTree by Hilton are familiar with the hotels' famous chocolate chip cookies, offered deliciously fresh and warm to guests when you check in.
Now that touch of home and hospitality will reach new heights – and become part of aerospace history. A batch of DoubleTree Cookie dough is being launched into space along with a prototype oven. Once the cookie dough and the oven reach the International Space Station, they'll become the centerpiece of a game changing zero gravity culinary experiment.
The partnership with Zero G Kitchen, a company that invents appliances for use in long-duration space expeditions, makes Hilton the first hotel brand in space.
It's another milestone for the company that celebrates 100 years of hospitality in 2019 just as space fans mark a half-century since man first walked on the moon. And fans of the hotel chain or space exploration history may remember, during the height of the Space Race in the 60's, Hilton declared its support of America's efforts to put a man on the moon by announcing its own plans for a hotel on the moon.
Half a century later, we haven't reached 'hotel on the moon' stage yet, but the simple act of baking cookies on the International Space Station is a giant leap towards making space travel more like a hotel stay.
And the hotel company is hoping its baking adventures in space inspire the next generation of travelers to pursue careers in hospitality. Hilton's Open Doors Pledge is committed to connecting, training, or employing a minimum of one million young people by its 100th anniversary.
And what young person isn't fascinated by space? So the company is working with Scholastic to develop an educational program for middle school students, encouraging them to think creatively about innovations for hospitality in space.
You can learn more about the launch and technology behind the oven - or even buy your own special edition Cookies in Space cookie tin by visiting www.cookiesinspace.com
And who knows, one of these days, we could actually be nibbling on a warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookie while we check into a Hilton hotel… in a 'galaxy, far, far, away'!