Getting food and drink into space comes with a number of compromises. Everything has to be lightweight and have a very long shelf life while remaining edible for the astronauts. One area where the experience doesn’t come anywhere close to what we get on Earth is coffee.
Everyone likes their coffee a particular way. Black coffee is easy, but start adding milk and sugar, and you have a problem in space. That problem stems from the fact everything is premixed and freeze dried, so astronauts don’t get to choose how sugary or milky their coffee is, and this has always been a big complaint of those returning from a mission.
Bad coffee in space is a problem of the past, though, as a group of students at Rice University have solved it using a couple of pouches and a 3D printed roller. The system is explained in the video below:
The main difference with this and what has gone before is the fact astronauts get to mix the coffee, creamer, and sugar the way they like it (the roller system can accurately dispense sugar or creamer in 10ml shots). And this is done while staying within the existing restrictions of no liquid leaks and everything remaining lightweight. Sure, it’s going to take a few minutes longer to make the beverage, but if there’s a great cup of coffee at the end of the process it’s worth it and astronauts won’t mind doing it.
Creating this new coffee making system was made possible by the Texas Space Grant Consortium, which runs the TSGC Design Challenge. One of the challenges this year was making coffee better on the International Space Station. The Rice University engineering student team of Robert Johnson, Colin Shaw and Benjamin Young took on the challenge, and are hopeful their solution now makes it on board the ISS.
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