News Blast

“Ground Control to Major Tom”: Take a Coffee Break

Posted May 6, 2015

Calling all intergalactic espresso drinkers: the coffee bar at the International Space Station is open for business, and the ISSpresso machine is boldly brewing where no espresso machine has brewed before. The first of its kind, this new age espresso machine is the result of collaboration between Argotec aerospace engineers, Lavazza coffee connoisseurs, and the Italian Space Agency.

Built to brew in zero gravity and perform under high-pressure conditions present in space, ISSpresso looks more like a microwave than an espresso machine. The procedure sounds simple enough: simply combine an individual capsule of espresso with a pouch of water to get an individual cup of delicious caffeinated goodness. To do this, the 44-pound machine employs industrial-grade steel pipes to heat and pressurize the liquid into a drinking pouch without losing any flavor or aroma.

The real science, however, is in the brewing. For this particular venture, engineers had to think about a problem that average earth-dwellers would never have to consider: how do you pour a cup of java without hot liquid spurting across a weightless cabin?

Luckily, NASA’s zero-g cup allowed Italian astronaut Sam Cristoforetti to relive the quintessential Italian coffee experience among the stars. Forgoing traditional pouch technology, the space age cup uses squeezable sides and capillary action to push the coffee into an astronaut’s mouth. Aside from offering a caffeine kick for astronauts aboard the ISS, the ISSpresso and its accompanying technology is also beginning to change the way that scientists look at how fluids act in microgravity. And astronauts like Cristoforetti are grateful for a little taste of home. Luckily, the ISSPresso doesn’t only offer the warm comfort of coffee—it can also brew other hot liquids, including tea and consommé. I’d toast to that.