Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2014

ASTRONAUTICS aboard the space station a small device that will help improve their moments of re- creation and socialization, they will fully appreciate it. What will it be? An espresso coffee ma- chine! Said in this way, it doesn’t sound very much. Instead, it is technologically ad- vanced artefact, whose design and con- struction took a few years to complete. The idea of sending into space an espresso cof- fee machine is unavoidably entirely Italian (being Italian espresso a symbol known more or less everywhere in the world), and it is the result of the cooperation between Argotec (engineering company of Turin, European leader in the design of aerospace systems and in the preparation and sup- ply of food for astronauts) and Lavazza (historic Italian coffee brand, also of Turin), with the participation of the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Putting the idea into practice required an extraordinary effort from the engineering point of view, as the ISS microgravity envi- ronment demand special devices and machine inner features that have little to do with those typically found on normal bar or home machines. Controlling the high pressure and temperature developed during coffee preparation were the two most difficult obstacles to overcome, along with the need to make liquids travel trough sealed circuits up to the tasting dispenser. As can be guessed, any device to be sent into space must first meet very stringent re- quirements in terms of technical function- ality and safety, since just a single espresso out of control would be sufficient to put at risk the onboard equipment and the safety of the astronauts. The particular conditions in which the machine must operate and the safety standards that had to met during construction, made it indispensable to use heavy-duty materials to strengthen the entire structure, such that in the end it weighs approximately 20 kg; which is quite a lot if we consider that every kilogram sent into space costs several thousand Euros (the cost varies depending on the carrier used). An idea of the sturdiness of this machine, dubbed “ISSpresso”, is pro- vided by the tube conveying the liquids in- side it: a tube that instead of being of plastic as in normal espresso machines, is made with a special steel capable of with- G iuseppe La- vazza (left), Lavazza's Vice President, and David Avino, Ar- gotec’s Manag- ing Director, toasting their joint venture with an espresso made with the prototype of ISSpresso, the coffee and hot drinks machine that in Novem- ber will be sent on the Interna- tional Space Sta- tion. [Lavazza/ Argotec]