Fwd: The International Space Station officially has an espresso machine

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: November 25, 2014 9:55:11 AM CST
To: <1rick.hashimoto@gmail.com>, "'undisclosed-recipients:'"
Subject: RE: The International Space Station officially has an espresso machine

 

The International Space Station officially has an espresso machine

Astronauts will have to get used to drinking espresso through a straw.

By Thor Benson   |   Nov. 24, 2014 at 8:30 PM

Now that the Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft has successfully transported three people to the International Space Station, the space station has an espresso machine.

"'An espresso coffee is what I miss most aboard the International Space Station.' We have repeatedly heard this comment from the Italian astronauts who for 13 years have been at times working in the International Space Station," wrote Lavazza in June. Thus, the Turin-based coffee company teamed up with another Turin company, the engineering firm Argotec, to make a space-ready espresso machine.

Espresso machines typically rely on gravity to get water through coffee grounds, but they don't have much gravity at the space station. So the companies created the "ISSpresso," as it's called, that uses pumps that shoot heated water through a coffee capsule at the correct pressure level, according to The Guardian.

The company claims the espresso the machine makes meets the requirements of being considered a traditional Italian espresso, except the astronauts have to drink it through a straw that goes into a plastic pouch to avoid spillage.

The ISSpresso officially made it into the space station with Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti on Monday morning.            

 

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