Aboard the International Space Station, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti became the first person in space to have a taste of freshly brewed coffee on Sunday, May 3 using the ISSpresso, which is a specially designed espresso machine for space. 

Apparently, astronauts and crew aboard the ISS has been drinking their coffee with instant coffee crystals for 15 years. Today, the ISSpresso changes all that as it arrived with other cargo and supplies aboard the SpaceX Dragon capsule last month where the espresso machine is especially designed to be used in microgravity.

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Cristoforetti and fellow astronaut, Scott Kelly has now set up the ISSpresso on a wall near the crew's dining area. The machine is about the size of a microwave and it uses capsules to brew the caffeinated beverage including other hot drinks like tea, hot chocolate and even broth.

Developed by Lavazza and Argotec, the ISSpresso is not just an appliance that can make legit coffee but it can also provide the crew good morale by increasing their variety of onboard drinks that can greatly affect their psychological well being in space.

However, making coffee in space is not that easy according to Argotec officals where they developed the first capsule espresso machine that can withstand extreme conditions in space. For example, fluid dynamics of liquids and mixtures can appear totally different compared to how Earth bound liquids usually behave.

When the coffee has been poured, this new system effectively cleans the final section where the hydraulic circuit is found and simultaneously produces a small pressure inside the special pouch that is currently used as an "espresso cup". When the straw has been inserted, the aroma of the coffee will then be released says Lavazza and Argotec.

The pouch is also made from transparent material in order to observe the cream that is also part of a fluid dynamic experiment to further study how liquids in space behave with high pressures and temperatures.

Apart from these transparent pouches, Cristoforetti also uses another specially designed container for her espresso using a Zero-G cup.These plastic cups are made using a 3D printer that are also part of a capillary beverage study where surface tension and other fluid properties are utilized in order to control the liquid flow inside the cup.

The crew's design is also based on an earlier makeshift cup designed by astronaut Don Pettit aboard the ISS in 2008.This capillary beverage study can open up the field of micro fuidics where it has practical applications in medical and drug delivery on Earth and also, develop better designs for fluid systems in fuel tanks for space exploration.

TagsISS, samantha cristoforetti, first cup of coffee in space, ISSpresso, Lavazza, Argotec