“First coffee. Then space.” - ISS Instagram
The International Space Station has a new expresso maker thanks to the collaboration between the Italian Space Agency, Italian engineering firm Argotec and coffee company Lavazza. Now authentic Italian espresso is no longer an earthly comfort. The expresso makers, cleverly named ISSpresso, was delivered to the space station on April 20th by SpaceX. According to the ISS Instagram account “It’s a little tricky to play barista in microgravity, so the pouches come premixed with different combinations of cream and sugar depending on the astronaut’s preference”.
The expresso machine came is new microgravity cup that “will do more than lift expresso to astronaut’s lips”. These cups and the information acquired by those using them on ISS will provide data on the passive movement of complex fluids as part of the Capillary Beverage investigation. This investigation will help those back on earth, whether to be the most fuel efficient for rocket fuel or get the last drop of medicine for the patients. These types of research will help prevent disasters on long duration missions like the human trip to mars roughly planned for 2030.
Although there is incredible research being done with this ISSpresso maker, you can tell the astronauts are having a lot of fun with it too.
Follow the International Space Station on instragram @iss
