HONG KONG: A fresh shot of coffee used to be a luxury in space. But thanks to an espresso maker that functions in microgravity, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, currently aboard the International Space Station, has finally brewed her first espresso.
Prior to the coffee machine’s long-awaited arrival, the only option aboard the orbiting laboratory was powdered instant coffee. The cups, co-designed by International Space Station researcher Mark Weislogel and astronaut Don Pettit, are peculiarly shaped so that a sharp corner makes the liquid inside stream toward a person’s mouth when they drink from it.
