Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2014

13 ASTRONAUTICS JULY-AUGUST 2014 As from next November it will be possible to savour a real Italian espresso also on the International Space Station. The coffee will be served by a machine called ISSpresso, specifically de- signed and made by two Italian companies for operating in the absence of gravity. A board the Interna- tional Space Station (ISS), the astronauts life is much less comfortable than we might envisage by watching the amusing videos in which the occupants of the habitable satellite do somersaults in the air, play with water droplets, fly from one end of the cabin hosting them to the other, al- ways with a big smile on their faces. Those brief moments of leisure are counterbal- anced by the need of using toilets with dis- quieting vacuum devices, of having to sleep strapped down or hanging like bats, and being confined for a long time in a claustrophobic environment. Clearly there is no discomfort that astronauts cannot cope with, but precisely for the austere life that they have to endure in orbit, they welcome any new comfort that is offered them. It is thus certain that when in No- vember the ISS crewmembers will receive S avouring a classic espresso coffee in the absence of gravity is not that easy, as can be seen in this illustration. Two Italian companies have how- ever solved the problem by making a machine specifically designed for brewing coffee in space.