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International Space Station Finally Gets Real Coffee

posted by martyb on Thursday April 16 2015, @11:15AM   Printer-friendly
from the look-what's-brewing-on-the-ISS dept.

Imagine starting your day without any coffee. Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Tim Hortons and vany other chains thrive on our coffee addiction. Add to that the fact that many of us have already had a cup or two even before venturing out to get a cup from one of those chains. Well, an Anonymous Coward has written in to tell us of some hard-working folks who had to give up real coffee for months at a time!

For years, the hard-working astronauts aboard the ISS had to begin their day with freeze-dried, reconstituted coffee served in plastic pouches. Now, this gross injustice may finally be remedied. The resupply mission scheduled to be launched today (Tuesday) will carry a new model of space espresso maker. Manufactured by Lavazza and the Italian aerospace firm Argotec, the machine is specially designed for microgravity operation, and uses off-the-shelf Lavazza coffee packets.

 
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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Zinho on Thursday April 16 2015, @02:35PM

    by Zinho (759) on Thursday April 16 2015, @02:35PM (#171602)

    I thought the primary reason for freeze-dried/instant was not needing to bring up/dispose of the unused mass in grounds. Are they somehow composting or otherwise consuming the leftover grounds once the brew is complete? What about the filters?

    The other big issue is aroma; I know lots of people like the scent of coffee, but not everyone does. On top of which, scent engineering is a big issue in spacecraft. The smell may interact with other scents in unexpected ways, leading to unpleasant odors that linger for quite long periods - not a good thing if you can't step outside for fresh air.

    I'm sure that these issues have been at least thought about, if not addressed and resolved, but the fine article doesn't even mention them. Is the weight issue not as big a deal today? I guess if we're willing to ship up a breadbox-sized hunk of metal and steamworks to satisfy an Italian astronaut's cravings then the ground beans are just in-for-a-pound, in-for-a-penny.

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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by tibman on Thursday April 16 2015, @02:42PM

    by tibman (134) Subscriber Badge on Thursday April 16 2015, @02:42PM (#171605)

    Coffee scent might be amazing for the ISS. I'd imagine that the whole ISS permanently smells like footcrotch right now.

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