by Natalia Ruiz

LinkedIn
Instagram
⓿  Zero Archives
❶  The Coffee Cup
❷  Shoes in Space?
❸  Fork = Straw
❹  16 Sunsets
❺ What if I need space in Space...
NEXT ARTICLE OPENS IN 24 DAYS




❶

The Coffee Cup


The timing for this article couldn’t be better, given that the inventor of one of the most compelling inventions for a cup of coffee in space has recently returned to Earth for the last time. This is what I got to know him for. But of course, Donald R. Pettit has done much more than that. With more than 590 days in space and over 13 spacewalk hours, he explored metal 3D printing methods in orbit, plant growth under varying water conditions, and investigated fire behaviour in microgravity.

I got to know about his capillary cup rather late, from the moment he came up with this very clever solution. Back in 2021, I was writing my master's thesis about the Translation of Objects from Earth to Space. I was looking for a very simple everyday activity to base my thesis question on: Why is industrial design valuable for the commercialisation of space travel?

Drinking a cup of coffee seemed like the perfect activity. It is something millions of people do every morning; it is a pleasure that has become a routine for many of us, it’s an experience that requires all of our senses, and it is definitely something people want to bring with them when exploring outer space. It’s such an experience that we have created multiple methods to achieve the perfect cup of coffee on Earth, yet the process is so simple that it can be easily put into three steps, so simple that it almost doesn’t need instructions.

Before I introduce you to the capillary cup, we need to first discuss what brought Dr Pettit to explore a solution for drinking coffee in a microgravity environment.

Taste and Smell: When a human is in a zero gravity environment, the olfactory senses decrease by around 20%, meaning the tasting senses decrease as both are needed to sense flavours and smells. This is the main reason for astronauts to always add extra spicy sauces, salt and pepper to the food sent to space, otherwise they feel like they are eating a flavourless mass/liquid.

Container: Because coffee is a liquid beverage that is mainly served hot (I will not be discussing cold brew here), it needs to be distributed and stored in a sachet and drunk with a straw… Reducing half of the experience of drinking a coffee, since smelling and holding a cup of fresh-brewed coffee is an essential part of it.

No spills: Microgravity environments are very vulnerable, so even tiny crumbs or small drops of liquid floating without any control in a cabin can go into a ventilation system and cause significant damage to the ISS, for example.

Actually, part of the lore behind the inspiration of making it possible to drink coffee in outer space came from Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, who said in an interview he missed drinking a good coffee cup when living in the ISS. Then, Portland State University professor Mark Weislogel took this matter into his own hands and properly developed it. 

Fun fact: this is the first patent ever granted for something solely invented in space.

Anyways, the amazing discovery of being able to contain liquid in an open container is truly sensational to witness. Apparently, fluids in microgravity attach themselves to narrow angles, which means the way we know mugs would totally change in outer space. Well, the way we see containers would totally change in shape. Makes me wonder what a glass of wine or an espresso martini would look like in space. 

But how useful can it be to have a proper container to enjoy a cup of coffee in microgravity if you don’t have a machine to make a proper espresso? Was probably exactly what Argotec and Lavazza thought when they partnered with the Italian Space Agency to create a machine that would allow an astronaut to enjoy; they called this machine the ISSpresso. 





Thankfully, the ISSpresso brought some good Italian interface design with it. The Portable Water Dispenser (PWD) that is used in the ISS is a very much astronaut-centred design, whereas the ISSpresso has a more human-centred design. The difference is visible the moment you look at both interfaces side by side. The PWD was designed around its internal components — the layout of buttons and dials follows the placement of the machine's parts, not the logic of the person using it. The ISSpresso, on the other hand, borrowed from Lavazza's Earth coffee makers: a familiar capsule system, clear feedback, and minimal decisions required. One was designed for someone who trained for years to use it. The other was designed for someone who just wants a coffee.

This poses the question of how everyday objects are going to be designed for when people take a holiday in a Hotel in Orbit, on the Moon or Mars. How is coffee going to be served in Space Stations flying to another planet? It is very important to rethink the rules of semiotics and ergonomics we apply when designing for life in outer space, when all the conventions and rules change. There is no up or down, objects float all over the place, and as obvious as it is to mention, gravity is missing, the one thing we take for granted for all objects to work. Like Weislogel said, “there’s CO2 bubbles that form and rise, it forms a crema, aromatics waft up — all that stuff is driven by gravity”. 

 

To live in Space we not only need to relearn basic habits, but we will also need to rethink how we design for everyday life activities and for people who do not have years of training and doctorates in astrophysics, as astronauts do.

This is what Zero Archives is about. Not answers — but the right questions. Every article starts with one object, one activity, one thing we do without thinking on Earth, and asks what happens when gravity is no longer a given.



In case you want to know more








♡
Reminder:

Let's design for space responsibly, without forgetting where we come from.