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Space Coffee, Just the Way You Like It

Posted by samzenpus on from the good-to-the-last-floating-drop dept.

Zothecula writes "Since the early days of space travel, a consistent complaint has been lousy coffee. Now a group of freshman engineering students at Rice University have developed a simple approach to alleviating this problem. From the article: 'The challenge was to develop a method and equipment that allows astronauts to add liquid ingredients (cream, sweetener, and lemon juice) from a foil package to another that contains black coffee or tea. No spills in microgravity can be allowed, as these have a tendency to migrate into equipment and cause faults. The Rice freshmen designed their system around the existing black coffee pouches. NASA supplied them two-ply heat sealed pouches to hold the sugar syrup and cream. The beverage and condiment pouches all have a septum which allows access to their contents without allowing any of the liquid contents to escape.'"

21 of 147 comments (clear)

  1. I think I can spot the problem... by madmarcel · · Score: 5, Funny

    You put the Americans in charge of coffee?? I think I can spot the problem...

    1. Re:I think I can spot the problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Putting Americans in charge of coffee? That's like putting the English in charge of tea.

    2. Re:I think I can spot the problem... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      And here, kids, we have a perfect example for the use of the term 'non sequitur'.

  2. The Russians used a pencil! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Colonies built on the moon: 0
    Hours spent designing perfect zero-g latte: 1000+
    Human race == fucked

    1. Re:The Russians used a pencil! by multiben · · Score: 3, Funny

      I hope you're not a programmer.

    2. Re:The Russians used a pencil! by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

      You do realize that a colony on the moon would NOT be in a zero-g environment? The moon has a micro-gravity, which will cause spilled liquids to fall to the floor, where they can be mopped up, much as we mop up spills on earth.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    3. Re:The Russians used a pencil! by pen · · Score: 2

      Problem is, you can't build a moon colony without perfecting space coffee first.

    4. Re:The Russians used a pencil! by somersault · · Score: 3, Informative

      The point he was trying to make is that NASA are misdrecting their resources. Not that this coffee is meant for the moon.

      --
      which is totally what she said
  3. Customize? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Given the expense of shipping people and supplies into orbit, and the fact that the people you are going to be shipping are generally known in advance, wouldn't it be substantially simpler just to ask them for their preferred beverage mixture and seal that in a single pouch?

    This isn't some sort of commercial aviation scenario, where the catering supplier has to do an approximate match against the uncertain tastes of 250 random passengers, which makes modular food much more sensible; or an MRE-type scenario where they have to stamp out a zillion of them and ship them wherever, so it just isn't practical to ensure that Pvt. SomeGuy gets exactly the combination he wants assembled at the factory and supply-chained out to him at firebase nowhere 18 months from now...

    1. Re:Customize? by gTsiros · · Score: 2

      on the other hand, i can't imagine astronauts being so picky with their coffee. Or if drinking is a good idea, being an astronaut.

      maybe my mind is still 50 years back.

      --
      Looking for people to chat about multicopters, coding, music. skype: gtsiros
    2. Re:Customize? by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 2

      You're forgetting that this system will work for more than just coffee.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    3. Re:Customize? by TheCarp · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Or maybe you just have silly stereotypes about astronauts, and likely coffee.

      So you think astronauts are not driven people who would gladly sacrifice their own body and long term health for the sake of the mission and being an astronaut? Do you really think coffee is that bad? I have worked in a major hospital and let me tell you....lots of Doctors and Nurses in that coffee line.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
    4. Re:Customize? by angiasaa · · Score: 2

      Well, I for one have tastes that change from day to day. Almost every time I make my coffee (which is about 6 to 8 times a day), I change something around. It's not that I absolutely MUST have variations in my coffee. But there's little joy in having the same stuff over long periods of time.

      But you do have a very valid point. They're on duty 24/7 in the ISS, and they knew what they were getting into well in advance. A rough blend in their preferred proportions would be a much better idea.

      --
      Geekism is your _only_ God!
    5. Re:Customize? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Bingo!

      Everyone seems to be hung up on coffee, as though that were the ONLY liquid that might ever need to be mixed with another ingredient in zero gravity.

      Hello, everyone! The same methods used to add cream to coffee will likely work in scientific experiments, or mixing epoxy cements, or, preparing an acid solution, or - just about anything that requires two ingredients to be mixed.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    6. Re:Customize? by TheCarp · · Score: 2

      Well you don't see a lot of them hanging around the smoking zone outside the hospital sucking down butts like the old nurses. Course I was out to diner with a number of doctors when one of them pointed at the fois gras one of them ordered and said "This is what your liver looks like after a good drinking binge" and the entire table shut up and looked shamefully down at their navels.... so yah they aren't that healthy.

      --
      "I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
  4. Let's see them do a Tea Ceremony in space by ackthpt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Something I got a kick out of was when Michael Stackpole wrote out an elaborate Japanese Tea Ceremony in Zero-G in one of his BattleTech novels. He didn't have to, but it was great reading.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  5. septum? by one_who_uses_unix · · Score: 2

    Am I the only one that is decidedly uncomfortable with drinking from anything with a septum?

    --
    KK4SFV
  6. Re:space coffee by ackthpt · · Score: 2

    Starbucks that even Starbuck would like?

    Starbucks are probably kicking thenselves for not thinking of this first.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  7. Someone should tell Chris Hadfield by dwywit · · Score: 4, Informative

    "No spills in microgravity can be allowed, as these have a tendency to migrate into equipment and cause faults. "

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMtXfwk7PXg

    --
    They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
  8. Re:just educate the astronauts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'll drink coffee however the fuck I want to. Humans discovered a long time ago that combining different ingredients makes things taste different.. and taste is subjective. Some people just don't like it black, some do.

  9. Re:just educate the astronauts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yes exactly! I've been arguing this for years. And it's not just coffee either. Every food should be eaten either in it's pure unmixed form, or not at all. Salt and ketchup on your fries? Guess you don't really like fries. Lemon aid? Why bother with the sugar, just drink lemon juice. Think you like salad? Not if you put dressing on it.