Astronaut shows how to drink a cup of coffee in space in a video
In microgravity, for example, when you are on the ISS, many familiar things become impossible. For example, you can’t take a coffee maker and pour yourself a cup of drink, because the liquid won’t flow into the cup, but will start to escape in the form of a flying ball. But the knowledge of physics allows you to still have a cup of coffee. On the occasion of International Coffee Day, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti showed how it works.
Christoforetta was able to drink her morning drink without difficulty, even while flying at 27,600 km/h at an altitude of 420 km above the nearest coffee shop.
Conventional coffee makers and kettles do not work in space, so the drink is delivered to the astronauts in ready-made tubes. The astronauts can add hot water to an aluminum bag pre-filled with freeze-dried coffee, milk, and sugar.
However, there was a coffee machine on board the ISS (ISS in English): the ISS-presso machine was developed by the Lavazza coffee company, and it spent more than two years on board the ISS to provide astronauts with fresh coffee. However, even with the improved ISSpresso design, coffee is still poured into a drinking bag
But astronauts don’t have to drink from the packet’s throat – they can pour the drink into a specially designed “space cup.” This cup uses the surface tension effect of the liquid and the capillary effect to hold the liquid and deliver it to the person for consumption.
NASA scientist Dr. Mark Weislogel, who participated in the development of the cup, explained in a blog post: “In a spacecraft, if you don’t understand the effects of surface tension, liquids (e.g., water, fuel) can go almost anywhere. That’s why you only see astronauts in space drinking from straw bags so they can completely roll up the bag, allowing the liquid to escape.”
To get around these problems, NASA has developed a cup that uses geometry to harness the physics of surface tension.
By touching the edge of the cup with your lips, a “capillary connection” is created, drawing liquid into your mouth in much the same way that a paper towel absorbs water.
Sending the cups into space was not only meant to make the astronauts’ mornings more pleasant, but was also part of serious science. The same physics that helps pour coffee from cup to mouth affects all liquids, both on Earth and in space.
As Dr. Weislogel explains, observing how the space bowl works in zero gravity will help scientists learn about everything from “getting the last drop of fuel for a rocket engine to delivering the perfect dose of medicine to a patient.”
Experiments conducted on the space cup will also help prevent disasters during future long-distance space travel, such as a trip to Mars.
