


How To Make Espresso In Space 192
In a story that's sure to bring to the surface the long-debunked myth of an over-elaborate NASA quest to create a pen to operate in space, Wired reports that the coffee situation aboard the International Space Station is about to improve: the station will be getting a 20kg, custom designed Lavazza espresso machine, to be delivered along with Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Among other differences from terrestrial espresso machines: the resulting beverage must be pumped into a straw-friendly bag rather than a demitasse. I wonder if there could be some way to adapt a (much lighter) Aeropress for space purposes, as a backup.
Short black with one (Score:4, Interesting)
How do they add sugar!!!
Look, I love coffee as much as the next guy but when they are replacing 20kg of scientific payload with a 20kg coffee machine (plus the pods and waste management), they might have their priorities a little skewed. If they'd spent the money on produging a better freeze dried espresso, all of humanity could benefit.
Re:Putting the "Star" in Starbucks... (Score:5, Interesting)
Last I heard, it cost around $20k/kg to lift cargo to orbit. Add in the extra weight of beans vs instant, and the world will finally see (albeit from a distance) coffee even more overpriced than Starbucks'.
Re:Putting the "Star" in Starbucks... (Score:4, Interesting)
The machine is a Lavazza. One would hope the beans are something else.
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Short black with one (Score:4, Interesting)