For all the Jetsons' cartoon episodes that glamorized life in the space age, they never mentioned where George, Jane and company could access fried chicken. Here on planet Earth, however, that problem has allegedly been solved as KFC and space flight experts, World View, who have announced a partnership to launch KFC's Zinger chicken sandwich to the edge of space-really.

Pushing the boundaries of space exploration and fried chicken technology, the mission will be the longest controlled stratospheric balloon flight with a commercial payload in history and the first-ever multi-day mission of the World View Stratollite flight system.

Unlike typical high-altitude balloons, Stratollites can execute a variety of flight profiles-from circumnavigating the Earth to persistence over a specific location - and maintain position over specific areas of interest for days, weeks, and eventually months on end. The Zinger Stratollite launch window opened on June 21.

"We're excited to be the ones pushing spicy, crispy chicken sandwich space travel forward," said Kevin Hochman, KFC U.S. president. "But in all seriousness, we're proud to support World View's commitment to advancing space research and trust them to take our world famous Zinger sandwich to space."

When asked for comment, current International Space Station crewmember Jack D. Fischer said, "Finally, I was seriously getting ready to hop the next flight back home to Colorado for some chicken-I can't take it anymore."

Not really, we made that up, but we hear space is infinitely lonely at times.

There's a miscommunication between what customers are interested in and what restaurants are serving them, according to information gleaned from the 2017 American Express Restaurant Trade Survey.

For starters, as many as one-third of restaurants are already using or are considering adopting automated customer service, such as kiosk or table-side ordering, however most customers prefer a restaurant with traditional wait staff to provide in-person service over one with digital customer-service platforms.

Other findings from the study include 51 percent of customers stating a preference for old-fashioned dining out over ordering take-out for pick-up (29 percent), although nearly two-thirds of restaurants have plans for technology investments in the next 12 months centered on ordering technology.

In addition, consumers are more likely to reply on consumer websites like Yelp or Foursquare (33 percent) than professional review websites or posts on social media. The majority of restaurants, however, are more likely to use social media, often Facebook (85 percent) and Instagram (46 percent).

The Swiss food giant, Nestle, leads the $77 million round of funding for Freshly, yet another meal kit delivery startup. Since launching in 2015, Freshly has raised $107 million to fund its unique refrigerated, microwave meals with a heavy emphasis on sustainable food and packaging.  "The traditional food model is shifting and we continue to see an increase in more health-conscious consumers who are seeking new options and services that fit easily and effortlessly into their lifestyle," said Jeff Hamilton, president of Nestle Foods Division, in a press release.