The crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) is set to receive an early Christmas present as an Italian espresso machine, specially designed for space, is on its way to the orbital space facility.
The "ISSpresso" machine, created by Italian companies Lavazza and Argotec, was built using zero gravity technology for astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.
The special package is ferried by SpaceX's Dragon capsule, launched into space on a rocket on Tuesday. The cargo includes other groceries and supplies meant to keep the astronauts on the ISS happy.
Cristoforetti expressed her excitement about the launch in a tweet:
"We watched live!" Cristoforetti said. "Amazing to think that in three days Dragon will be knocking on our door."
Cristoforetti is not the first ISS astronaut to comment about the lack of good coffee in space. Fellow Italian Luca Parmitano said that he really missed having a cup of good Italian espresso while he was on his stint aboard the space station. Since then, Argotec has taken over the task of providing the astronauts their coffee in space. The astronauts will be able to drink the espresso using new space drinking mugs designed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of its Capillary Beverage experiment. These mugs feature a unique design that recreates the role of gravity in normal drinking on Earth through a combination of surface tension, wetting, and cup geometry. NASA says their space-age mugs will not only help improve the delivery of drugs on Earth, but it will also influence the creation of next generation spacecraft. Regarding the "ISSpresso" machine, Lavazza and Argotec view the results of their experiment as a means to help the two companies in designing future coffee machines on Earth. The Dragon capsule is scheduled to reach the ISS on Friday.
SpaceX hopes to continue the program of sending more cargo capsules to the ISS through future launches but at lower costs. The private company said the launch of the Dragon capsule cost more than $56 million.
Photo: Michael Allen Smith | Flickr