In space you don’t sip, you suck, from a bag. That’s a good thing. The typical coffee cup simply doesn’t work in low gravity, unless you want scalding hot liquid floating through the air.
It takes a special vessel to get liquid from an open container into an astronaut’s mouth.
It also takes a helluva lot of science, as seen by the cup designed by Portland State University researchers. For the past year, scientists there have been developing a mug designed specifically to allow astronauts to sip on espresso (or other warm and frothy drinks) in low-gravity environments.
The cup’s shape is odd—a little like a plastic baby boot—and was determined by mathematical models.
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