Without gravity, it is impossible to pour a liquid, and runaway droplets could splash in inconvenient places like electronic circuitry. For a glass that offered a refined drinking experience reminiscent to that on Earth required the manipulation of some counterintuitive principles of fluid dynamics.

The bottom of the bulbous glass, made of gold-plated stainless steel, contains a spiral ring for a reservoir of whisky to cling to. Through a phenomenon known as capillary action, first observed by Leonardo da Vinci, the whisky is drawn upward through a helical channel within the side of the glass to a mouthpiece at the rim for a space traveler to drink.