ISS astronauts to finally get some good coffee in space

03 October 2014 - 16:10 By Times LIVE
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EXTREME SIGHTSEEING: The sun shines above the Earth, with the International Space Station in the foreground in this photograph taken by Nasa astronaut Ron Garan on a space walk in 2011.
EXTREME SIGHTSEEING: The sun shines above the Earth, with the International Space Station in the foreground in this photograph taken by Nasa astronaut Ron Garan on a space walk in 2011.
Image: REUTERS

Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) will soon have their own ISSpresso.

A prototype ISSpresso machine was shown off at the International Astronomical Congress exhibition according to MSN News, with a similar device planned for the ISS in 2015.

The coffee machine is a Argotec-Lavazza-Italian Space Agency joint project, was already underway last year when  Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano said in an interview that the thing he missed most in space was a good cup of coffee.

"I was calling people, asking, 'Were you talking to Luca?'" Said David Avino, managing director of Italian engineering and software firm Argotec.

The new machine has been singnificantly altered compared to the earthly brethren it was modelled after, with brewing system is set up to make it leak proof in zero gravity.

In fact all it still shares in common with them is the capsule of coffee, the brewing temperature of 167 degrees Fahrenheit (75 degrees Celsius) and the water pressure.

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