A good coffee is always good at any time of the day and anywhere in the world… even beyond. The International Space Station had its own drink machine between 2015 and 2017: ISSpresso.
Astronauts have been drinking coffee on their missions since the beginning of exploration, in the 1960s. Michael Collins, the pilot who took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon in 1969, recounted: “Behind the Moon I was alone, completely alone. But I felt very comfortable. I even had hot coffee.”
Its name is a mixture between the acronym in English for the station (ISS) and espresso (espresso coffee, in Italian), and it was built by the companies Argotec and Lavazza, together with the Italian Space Agency.
Argotec is an engineering firm, while Lavazza is a coffee company
In 2014, both companies partnered to see the possibility of creating the machine, later joining the ASI, which led to the idea of the International Space Station.
The 20-kilogram machine arrived at the orbiting laboratory in May 2015, but it took two trips. The first, at the end of October 2014, suffered from a problem: the Cygnus freighter, which was carrying it, exploded after takeoff.
already the second trip had no problems.
But, how did it work the coffee machine on the International Space Station?
This is how ISSpresso worked, the coffee machine on the International Space Station
ISSpresso worked with coffee capsules, and the hot drink was poured into a 3D-printed plastic cup, specially designed to work in zero gravity.
“Each detail has been studied to best deal with the difficult management of liquids at high pressure and high temperatures in the microgravity space environment”, explained Antonio Pilello. to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
After inserting a capsule of pre-ground coffee, the water was heated to 93°C and pumped through a steel pipe, pressurizing the coffee, which was then pumped into a drink bag.
“The result is a much more palatable coffee for astronauts who have already lost enough comforts in space,” he noted. the specialized portal Coffee or Die.
The first person to try an espresso machine in space was the Italian Samantha Cristoforetti, on May 3, 2015.
She would then post a photo of herself sipping her espresso on Twitter. “Coffee: the finest organic suspension ever designed. Fresh espresso in the new Zero-G cup! Boldly prepared, ”Cristoforetti wrote on his account.
It always became more comfortable for astronauts to drink coffee. in its traditional plastic bag with a straw.
A cup with a specific design was also developed to prevent coffee from spilling. We talked about her some time ago on FayerWayer, We leave you here the link.
The use of the machine was not only a matter of taste, but also a scientific one. “Until Sunday, we did not know exactly how the hot fluid reacted at high pressure,” said Roberto Battiston, president of the ASI, at the time. “Now we do.”