Astronaut on board the International Space Station reveals how she makes her morning coffee in zero gravity

After drinking too much coffee, you may feel like you’re… They float, but for astronauts, stopping their coffee from floating can be a real headache.

In a video published on the occasion of International Coffee Day, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has revealed how she brewed her morning coffee without the aid of gravity during her time on the International Space Station (ISS).

Using specially designedspace “Cup,” Ms. Cristoforetti was able to sip her morning drink without difficulty — even while circling 250 miles (420 kilometers) above the nearest café.

The footage shows the Italian astronaut carefully pouring her coffee from a sealed bag into the strangely shaped cup.

For astronauts, even an open cup poses a serious challenge, but this invention allows residents of the International Space Station to enjoy some of the simple pleasures of life on Earth.

While the surface tension of coffee means it can’t be poured from any old container, the special shape of the Space Mug allows you to sip coffee almost as you would on Earth

Cristoforetti is a space coffee enthusiast, having become the first person to drink espresso made aboard the International Space Station in 2015.

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The video was filmed last year during Ms. Cristoforetti’s 170-day stay in orbit, during which she became the first woman to command the International Space Station.

Ms. Cristoforetti arrived at the International Space Station on April 27, 2022 and returned to Earth on October 14.

Commenters on social media expressed their astonishment at the design.

“It’s the little things that bring home the reality of spacefaring civilization,” one user wrote.

Another joked that they would like their space coffee “with lots of liquefied sugar please.”

In the video, Cristoforetti explains the difficulty of drinking in space, where coffee is poured into a small bottle and remains trapped there due to the effect of its own surface tension.

Astronauts looking for a caffeine boost will have to make do with aluminum bags pre-filled with freeze-dried coffee, milk and sugar into which hot water can be pumped.

“In a spacecraft, if the effects of surface tension are not understood, liquids (such as water and fuel) can be almost anywhere in the container they carry,” NASA scientist Dr. Mark Weislogl, who helped design the cup, explained in a blog post. they.

“That’s why in space you’ll only see astronauts drinking from bags that have straws in them so they can completely fold the bag up to ensure the liquids come out.”

To overcome these problems, NASA designed a cup that uses clever engineering to exploit the physics of surface tension.

Touching your lips to the rim of the space cup creates a “capillary contact,” drawing liquid into your mouth in the same way a paper towel absorbs water.

Commenters on X shared their amazement at the space-age design and how they couldn’t live in space if it meant giving up their morning coffee.

The shape of the Space Cup creates a capillary connection between the liquid and your mouth from the moment your lips touch the rim.

The ISS-presso machine was designed by coffee company Lavazza and spent more than two years aboard the International Space Station providing fresh coffee to astronauts.

However, sending mugs into space wasn’t just about making astronauts’ mornings more fun, it was a bit of serious science.

The same physics that helps pour coffee from a cup into your mouth affects all liquids, whether on Earth or in space.

As Dr. Wesilogal explains, observing how the space cup operates in zero gravity will help scientists learn everything from “getting the last drop of fuel for a rocket engine or delivering the perfect dose of medicine to a patient.”

Experiments conducted on the Space Cup will also help prevent disasters on future long space missions such as the trip to Mars.

This isn’t the first time some serious scientists have made an effort to get a better drink aboard the International Space Station.

In 2015, the Italian Space Agency, in collaboration with engineering company Argotec and coffee company Lavazza, designed the Isspresso machine: the world’s first microgravity espresso machine.

The 44-pound (20 kg) machine spent two years aboard the International Space Station, and used steel hydraulic tubing to produce a cup of fresh hot espresso in about three minutes.

Even with Isspresso’s advanced design, the coffee was still pumped into a drinking bag, so space-based caffeine addicts would still need to use a space mug to enjoy the aroma of their drink.

Illustrated: The $100 billion International Space Station is located 250 miles above Earth

The International Space Station (ISS) is a $100bn (£80bn) science and engineering laboratory that orbits 250 miles (400km) above Earth.

It has been permanently staffed with rotating crews of astronauts and astronauts since November 2000.

The crews came mainly from the United States and Russia, but the Japanese space agency JAXA and the European Space Agency ESA also sent astronauts.

The International Space Station has been continuously occupied for more than 20 years, spent adding multiple new modules and system upgrades

Research conducted aboard the International Space Station often requires one or more of the unusual conditions found in low Earth orbit, such as low gravity or low oxygen.

ISS studies have investigated human research, space medicine, life sciences, physical sciences, astronomy and meteorology.

NASA spends about $3 billion (£2.4 billion) annually on the space station programme, and the remaining funding comes from international partners, including Europe, Russia and Japan.

So far, 244 people from 19 countries have visited the station, including eight private citizens who have spent up to $50 million to visit.

There is ongoing debate about the future of the station after 2025, as it is believed some of the original structure will reach the ‘end of life’.

Russia, a major partner in the station, plans to launch its own orbital platform around that time, and Axiom Space, a private company, plans to send its own modules for purely commercial use to the station at the same time.

NASA, the European Space Agency, JAXA and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) are working together to build a space station in lunar orbit, and Russia and China are working on a similar project, which would also include a base on the surface.