Space Station Archives

November 10, 2008December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

DIY ISS: Big Home Improvement Projects for Space Station

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Astronauts on the crew of STS-126, scheduled to launch on space shuttle Endeavour on Friday, Nov. 14 will be doing some big home improvement projects on their visit to the International Space Station. This mission will allow the ISS to double its crew size, as well as making sure there will be enough power for everyone living on board the orbital outpost. “It’s the most jam-packed logistics module we have ever carried up there,” STS-126 Commander Chris Ferguson said. “We’re taking a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house and turning it into a five-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a gym.”

The major additions are extra sleeping compartments, another bathroom, specialized workout equipment, a state-of-the-art water recycling system, and a refrigerator. But spacewalking astronauts will also attempt to clean up a malfunctioning SARJ – the Solar Alpha Rotary Joint that allows the station’s solar arrays to constantly track the sun. The huge mechanism hasn’t worked right for more than a year, and astronauts will clean up metal shavings from grinding parts, replace the trundle bearing assemblies and add special lubrication. It’s a big job, and will take four spacewalks to complete, including adding lubrication the port side SARJ, which has been working fine. But NASA doesn’t want to take any chances.

So astronauts will be busy both outside and in at the station during the mission, which will bring 14,500 lbs of supplies and equipment to the ISS.

“We’re going to use up a lot of the new space that we’ve brought up on the past few missions, with Node 2 and Columbus and the Kibo module,” lead shuttle flight director Mike Sarafin said. “The six-person crew is an important step toward utilizing the space station to its full capability.”

The crew includes: Christopher Ferguson, commander, Eric Boe, pilot, Sandra Magnus, Stephen Bowen, Donald Pettit, Robert (Shane) Kimbrough and Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper.

But in addition to fully utilizing the space station, the equipment brought up will allow the space station to start depending less on the space shuttle. A new regenerative environmental control and life support system will give the station the ability to recycle urine and the condensation that the crew breathes into the air into pure water that can be used for drinking or to cool the station’s systems.

Endeavour’s commander, Christopher Ferguson, considers the water system the single most important piece of equipment that he’s delivering. It’s important for when the shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, and its water deliveries dry up. But Ferguson said the benefits go beyond the space station.

“This is really it, and it has no parallel. I would challenge you to find any other system on the Earth that recycles urine into drinkable water. It’s such a repulsive concept that nobody would even broach it. But that day will come on this planet, too, where we’re going to need to have these technologies in place, and this is just a great way to get started.”

“Up until this point, the majority of the station’s drinking water was coming up from the shuttle or the Russian’s Progress vehicle,” Sarafin said. “This sets us up for long-term sustainability of the station without the shuttle.”

Nobody will be drinking the water generated by the system just yet – an onboard purity monitor needs to be checked out and multiple water samples must be analyzed by scientists on the ground first. To get that water sample home as quickly as possible, Endeavour’s crew will take a shot at getting the system hooked up before they leave.

Here’s more info on the urine-to-water system.

The new additions to the space station will be a good way to mark the 10th birthday of the International Space Station on Nov. 20 – 10 years after the first station module was launched into space and construction began.

“We’ll be transitioning to true utilization and setting up for six-person crew at that 10-year bench mark,” Sarafin said. “It’s been a tremendous international effort to get to this point, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate it.”

Source: NASA, Houston Chronicle

November 8, 2008December 24, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

Declaration of Human Rights to be Sent to Space Station

[/caption]On December 10th 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in a direct response to the atrocities committed during the Second World War. Since this landmark moment, the UDHR has been adopted and become the most translated document in history. The declaration consists of 30 articles (or 30 specific basic rights) and all have been worked into international law.

Now the one document that defines an individual’s rights on Earth will be launched into orbit and installed on the International Space Station (ISS), just in time for the 60th anniversary of the declaration’s signing…

All going well, November 14th will see the launch of STS-126, Space Shuttle Endeavour’s resupply mission to the ISS. The seven-member crew is set to deliver equipment to the ISS as well as repair the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints (SARJ). However, Endeavour will also have some extra special cargo on board.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the UDHR, a copy of the historic document will be hand-delivered and placed on board the European Space Agency’s Columbus module. The UDHR will remain on board the science laboratory permanently as a testament to the people on Earth and the astronauts in space who live by these rules.

On Friday, a copy of the declaration was handed to ESA’s Director General, Jean-Jacques Dordain, by Rama Yade (who is responsible of foreign affairs and human rights within the French government) at the Quai d’Orsay, the French Foreign Ministry. The UDHR has been sealed inside protective packaging to prevent damage from the ravages of space travel.

“The ESA Astronaut Corps welcomes this humanitarian initiative. In recognition of the fact that human beings are at times downtrodden, the Declaration can symbolically find its place ‘above’ all the peoples of the world,” said ESA astronaut Léopold Eyharts, who helped to install the Columbus module back in February.

Sources: ESA, Physorg.com

November 6, 2008December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Floating Battle Droids On Board ISS

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Three free-flying spheres are currently zooming around inside the International Space Station. Is the crew of Expedition 18 using them to hone their light-saber battle skills a la Luke Skywalker or sharpen their ability to detect UFOs? No, these bowling-ball sized spherical satellites are part of an experiment devised by students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to test autonomous rendezvous and docking maneuvers for future formation flying spacecraft. Called SPHERES – which stands for Synchronized Position Hold, Engage, Reorient, Experimental Satellites — these color-coded robots are flying inside the ISS, testing different flight formations. But these have to be a lot of fun to play with during off hours on the space station: zero-g bowling or space volleyball, anyone?

Astronauts Greg Chamitoff, Mike Fincke and spaceflight participant Richard Garriott posed with SPHERES. Credit: NASA

Each satellite is self-contained with power, propulsion, computers and navigation equipment. The results are important for satellite servicing, vehicle assembly and formation flying spacecraft configurations. One future formation flying mission is the Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer, which will use multiple small vehicles flying in formation to create an orbiting infrared interferometer.

Terrestrial Planet Finder Interferometer array.

If successful, these mini-satellites, and their potentially larger versions, would be able to refuel/repair other satellites, establish positioning around space-based telescopes, and support space docking routines. So, battle droids would become maintenance droids.

And smaller, multiple satellite missions are economical and provide redundancy. Instead of launching one big, heavy satellite, launching lots of little is easier. They can orbit Earth in tandem, each doing their own small part of the overall mission. If a solar flare zaps one satellite—no problem. The rest can close ranks and carry on. Launch costs are reduced, too, because tiny satellites can hitch a ride inside larger payloads, getting to space almost free of charge.

The SPHERES can also test the ability to build spaceships in orbit. One way to build a larger ship to go to, for instance, Mars, is to assemble it piece by piece in Earth orbit. The SPHERES are helping engineers design software that could be used to maneuver the pieces of a spaceship together.

Sources: Science@NASA, NASA, MIT

November 3, 2008December 24, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

US Space Station Crew’s Orbital Presidential Vote

NASA astronaut, Michael Fincke (Expedition 18 commander) will vote from orbit (NASA)

[/caption]Astronauts realise that there are some things they will miss out on. Whilst living on the International Space Station (ISS) for months at a time they may miss out on their child’s first words, they may forget to record the new season of Heroes, they may also miss out on a terrestrial celebration of their birthday.

While many of these things can upsetting or frustrating, say if you’re in space when a life-changing event or historical moment for your whole country is about to occur? This is exactly what is going to happen for the two US astronauts currently looking down on their nation from the orbiting outpost. Tomorrow is Presidential Election Day, so Michael Fincke and Gregory Chamitoff are going to exercise their rights as American citizens (that only four astronauts have been able to do previously) to vote in their next leader…

Fincke and Chamitoff will be able to vote in tomorrow’s US election using a Texas law that was passed in 1997. The eleven year-old law extends the right that every ground-based adult American citizen takes for granted to the US astronauts carrying out their duties on the space station.

“So I’m going to exercise my privilege as a citizen and actually vote from space on Election Day,” the ISS Expedition 18 Commander Michael Fincke said before he left Earth. “I think the candidates this year are exciting in and of themselves. But hopefully we get people to realize what a privilege it is, and they exercise and get a chance to vote.” Fincke was launched on October 12th with cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov and space tourist Richard Garriott on the Soyuz TMA-13 flight.

The 1997 Texas bill has allowed four astronauts to vote in the southern US state. Astronaut David Wolf was the first space-based ballot to be cast in the ’97 Houston election from the Russian Space Station Mir. Then Leroy Chiao (2004 ISS Expedition 10 commander) was able to vote in the last presidential election. In 2006 and 2007, astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Clayton Anderson were also able to cast their votes during separate space station missions.

This year, both orbiting astronauts are urging American citizens to get to their local polling places, as regardless of who is being voted for, the right to vote is a privilege. “Voting is the most important statement Americans can make in fulfilling a cherished right to select its leaders,” Fincke said in a patriotic NASA TV video with Chamitoff. “So this Election Day, take time to go to the polls and vote. If we can do it, so can you.”

It all sounds great, but how do astronauts actually vote in space?

The Texas bill allows astronauts to cast an absentee ballot from space with the help of the County Clerk of Harris and Brazoria counties (containing Houston). A secure electronic ballot is then sent to the ISS via mission control from the Clerk’s Office. Separately, an email is sent to the astronauts on board the space station with login information to the secure ballot. Once completed in orbit, the secure ballot is sent back to Mission Control and then forwarded to the Clerk’s Office.

“I was thankful for everyone making it possible for me to vote from space,” Leroy Chiao said. “I think it was an important symbolic gesture. Also, it was important to me personally.” Chiao added that making the space vote possible also encouraged ordinary US citizens to make the short trek down to their local polling station.

Source: MSNBC

November 3, 2008December 24, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

ISS Space Junk Re-Entered Without Incident, 550km South of Australia (Updated)

My impression of the EAS beginning atmospheric re-entry (NASA images, edit by Ian O'Neill)

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The Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS), the largest chunk of debris ever jettisoned from the International Space Station (ISS) had a fight with Earth’s atmosphere, and lost. Reports by amateur astronomers on November 2nd suggested that the speeding EAS had probably re-entered, as its expected orbital pass was not observed. Now calculations by US Space Command suggest any surviving EAS debris dropped into the ~~Indian Ocean~~ Pacific Ocean, 550km south of Tasmania, where any sightings of the resulting fireball would be unlikely…

The double-refrigerator-sized EAS was dropped from the ISS on July 23rd, 2007 to begin its long spiral journey toward the Earth’s atmosphere. At the time, NASA calculated that the EAS would take approximately 300 days to reach the planet below, but its degrading orbit took a little longer than expected. Eventually NASA was able to say for sure that the re-entry window would occur some time on Sunday (Nov. 2nd), 15 months after it was detached from the station. The operation to remove the defunct 1400 lb (635 kg) piece of equipment included a spacewalk lasted for nearly eight hours.

Although it might seem like a precarious decision by NASA to allow an uncontrolled re-entry of an object as big as the EAS — especially as it was predicted that up to 15 pieces, some as big as 17.5 kg (40 lb), may survive re-entry, hitting the ground at 100 mph — but the problems associated with keeping the ammonia-filled EAS on board the station were far more acute. After all, 70% of the Earth’s surface is water, and the likelihood of debris impacting populated regions was very small. Even so, NASA warned, “If anybody found a piece of anything on the ground Monday morning, I would hope they wouldn’t get too close to it.”

The first news to come to light about the EAS demise came from an amateur astronomer in Horizon City, Texas, who was using a low-light camera to try to capture the November 2nd flyby. “But the EAS did not appear,” said Thomas Dorman on Sunday. “I think it is safe to assume EAS has reentered.”

Today, it would appear a better idea of the EAS re-entry location has been calculated. The EAS re-entered over the ~~Indian Ocean~~ South Pacific Ocean, south of Tasmania at nearly 5am GMT:

US Space Command reports that the Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) probably reentered Earth’s atmosphere on Nov. 3rd at 04:51:00 GMT +/- 1 minute over the following coordinates: 48° S, 151° E. That would place the fireball over the ~~Indian Ocean~~ [Pacific Ocean] south of Tasmania where sightings are unlikely. – SpaceWeather.com

More information about the EAS final orbital trajectory can be found on the real-time satellite tracking website.

If any pieces of the EAS survived re-entry, it looks as if they fell into the ~~Indian Ocean~~ South Pacific Ocean without incident, and (so far) without any eye-witnesses…

Update (Nov. 4th):

Google Earth view of the EAS re-entry co-ordinates (Google/Ian O'Neill)

On following up a reader’s comment on the EAS re-entry, I decided to do some research myself. With reference to the Google Earth snapshot above, it would appear the EAS debris fireball occurred pretty close (approximately 550 km) to the southern-most state of Australia, Tasmania.

Also, according to the original news release, the SpaceWeather.com source quoted the re-entry co-ordinates as 48° S, 151° E. The Indian Ocean is delineated from the Pacific Ocean along the 147° east meridian (i.e. 147° longitude). Therefore, at 151° E quoted as the longitudinal co-ordinate of re-entry is clearly in the South Pacific Ocean and not the Indian Ocean. Corrections to the original article have been made above.

Source: SpaceWeather.com

November 1, 2008April 26, 2016 by Ian O'Neill

Largest Ever Piece of Space Station Junk to Hit Earth Tomorrow

The Easy Ammonia Servicer (EAS) photographed on July 23rd, 2007, by ISS astronauts. Watch your heads, it's re-entering tomorrow! (NASA)

[/caption]The Early Ammonia Servicer (EAS) weighs 1400 lb (635 kg), is the size of two refrigerators and it’s going to drop through the atmosphere some time tomorrow (Sunday, Nov. 2nd). Funny thing is, we don’t know where, and we don’t precisely know when. Will any of the defunct equipment survive re-entry? We don’t know that either, but it seems highly probable.

The EAS was dropped from the International Space Station in 2007, making it the largest piece of space junk ever dropped from the orbital outpost. At the time, it was believed the ammonia coolant-filled debris would only stay in orbit for 300 days; alas this was a huge underestimation, the EAS has been in orbit for 15 months. The final hours of the large chunk of space debris are being closely tracked by NASA and the U.S. Space Surveillance Network as a precaution. Although no bits of the EAS are expected to pose a danger to people on the ground, NASA’s space station program manager said “we just need to be cautious.”

The EAS was installed on the space station during a spacewalk by the crew of Discovery in 2001 during the STS-105 servicing mission. It was installed as part of the station’s emergency reserve coolant system, but when the mature thermal control system was activated, the EAS became surplus to requirements and NASA had to devise plans to remove the equipment. At the time, this posed a tricky problem – after all, you can’t just throw junk overboard, what happens if it creates a future hazard for the ISS or other orbiting craft?

Eventually a solution was found. Astronaut Clay Anderson led a 7 hour 41 minute EVA with cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin and robotic arm operator Oleg Kotov to throw the EAS overboard, toward the Earth on July 23rd, 2007. They did this just before a re-boost by the Soyuz spacecraft docked with the station at the time. By doing this, the EAS assumed a slowly deteriorating spiral orbit toward Earth whilst the space station increased its altitude, avoiding any possibility of encountering the discarded EAS on future orbits.

In July, I reported that the EAS had reached an ideal altitude for astronomers to catch a glimpse of it through their telescopes. The speedy +4 to +4.5 magnitude object had been spotted by many amateur astronomers.

Any observation opportunities are about to come to an abrupt end, however. Some time on Sunday, the EAS will succumb to atmospheric drag and drop toward the ground. As to whether any debris from the re-entering EAS will hit the ground, NASA believes that up to 15 pieces of the ammonia storage tank might survive the high temperatures. The pieces are predicted to range in size from 40 grams (1.4 oz) to 17.5 kg (40 lb). It is most likely these pieces will land in the ocean, but if any of the debris hits solid ground, they will be travelling at 160 km/hr (100 mph).

It is unlikely that any part of the EAS will be a risk to people or property, but Mike Suffredini, NASA’s space station program manager, warns, “If anybody found a piece of anything on the ground Monday morning, I would hope they wouldn’t get too close to it.” After all, should any of the toxic ammonia stored inside the EAS survive re-entry, it could pose a health risk. (Having said that, I would think a man-made meteorite travelling at 100 mph would also be considered a “health risk,” let’s just hope re-entry occurs over 2/3 of the planet covered with water…)

Update: According to SpaceWeather.com, little is known about where the EAS will re-enter the atmosphere, “At the moment, every continent except Antarctica has some favorable ground tracks.” We had a much better idea as to where and when asteroid 2008 TC3 hit Earth, perhaps we need to tighten up on the space junk re-entry problem (although I’d expect it’s much harder to predict the upper atmospheric dynamics than orbital trajectories of incoming meteoroids).

Sources: Space.com, MSNBC

October 30, 2008December 24, 2015 by Nancy Atkinson

Hubble Servicing Mission Delayed; Mission to ISS Set for Nov. 14

Hubble and its most recent science image. Credit: NASA

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The space shuttle mission to repair and update the Hubble Space Telescope has been delayed. Mission managers were aiming for a February 2009 launch for STS-125 flight for the fifth and final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The replacement component for the data handling system that recently caused problems for the telescope not be ready by February, and now NASA is looking for a May 2009 launch. On a positive note, the “other” shuttle mission waiting in the wings, STS-126 to the International Space Station, is looking good and is go for launch. Current launch date is set for November 14 at 7:55 p.m. EST.

“We now have done enough analysis of all the things that need to happen with the flight spare unit to know that we cannot be ready for a February launch,” said NASA’s Astrophysics Division Director Jon Morse at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The spare Science Instrument Command and Data Handling system unit will replace one that failed on Hubble in late September, causing the agency to postpone the servicing mission, which had been targeted for Oct. 14.

A significant anomaly occurred during testing of the unit and NASA says six and a half months of further testing is needed before the it can be certified to fly. NASA’s plan is to have the spare unit ready to ship in the April 2009 timeframe so as to support a May 2009 launch.

Endeavour’s STS-126 flight, set to launch on November 14 will feature important repair work to the station and prepare it for housing six crew members during long-duration missions. The primary focus of the 15-day flight and its four planned spacewalks is to service the station’s two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, which have not been working correctly. They allow the station’s solar arrays to track the sun. Endeavour will carry about 32,000 pounds to orbit, including supplies and equipment necessary to double the crew size from three to six members in spring 2009. The new station cargo includes additional sleeping quarters, a second toilet and a resistance exercise device.

Source: 1st NASA press release, 2nd NASA press release

October 27, 2008April 26, 2016 by Ian O'Neill

Ham Radio Operator Communicates with Space Station

Radio equipment (Palos Verdes Amateur Radio Club)

[/caption]A Canadian amateur radio operator had an 11 minute opportunity to listen out for the International Space Station (ISS) as it passed overhead on October 20th with space tourist Richard Garriott on board. Garriott was also using ham radio during his stay on board the station to communicate with other ham radio enthusiasts on the ground. Murray Crandon from Saskatchewan heard Garriott seeking contact and they exchanged call signs, but Crandon was aware Garriott had a lot of people to make contact with and kept his communication short…

“He just called, ‘CQ, this is Richard Garriott, NA1SS aboard the International Space Station,’ and then I just answered him with my own call sign,” Murray Crandon said.

“We didn’t have a lot of time and I wanted to respect everybody else’s opportunity to make a contact as well so we just exchanged our call signs … and we just moved on from there.”

Crandon is an 18-year ham radio veteran, so contacting Garriott was no new thing. He’d also been able to make contact with Charles Simonyi, another US space tourist on board the station, in April last year. He also had the opportunity to contact South Korea’s Antarctic base in the South Shetland Islands in March 2003. Whilst these amateur radio feats are impressive, Crandon wants to receive signals from even farther afield. “I suppose if they ever put a human on Mars, I’ll be listening,” he said.

Whilst ham radio might be considered rather “old fashioned” in the era of email, digital communication and satellite networks, listening out for other radio operators when scouring the radio frequencies remains a very popular hobby. It is also a powerful means for communities to support each other and for reliable emergency/disaster communications should the need arise. It also looks like it may be an efficient means to keep tabs on the space station crew.

It is estimated that six million people around the globe (and occasionally in orbit) are active ham radio operators.

On October 12th, Garriott was launched on board Soyuz TMA-13 with Expedition 18; he returned to Earth on October 24th after 10 days on board the station. During his stay Garriott performed a variety of science, education and commercial tasks including a series of ham radio communication events with students and the public.

Source: CTV

October 25, 2008December 24, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

Russian Spacecraft Producer: No More Money for Soyuz

The Soyuz TMA-13 is transported to its launchpad for the Oct. 10th flight (AFP)

[/caption]The Russian spacecraft producer Energiya has warned that it might only have enough money to launch the next two Soyuz flights unless funds are raised urgently.

This situation poses a difficult problem for future access to the International Space Station. The spacecraft producer requires funding in advance to pay for the construction of future Soyuz vehicles, so unless a solution is found, the launch of Expedition 19 that is expected to be carried by the Soyuz TMA-15 (around May 2009) could be the last…

Just when we thought getting access to the International Space Station (ISS) was hard enough, Energiya’s President Vitaly Lopota has announced his company has run out of money.

“We have vessels and funding for them for the next two trips, but I do not know what will happen with expeditions after that,” Lopota said on Friday. “We have no funds to produce new Soyuz craft. Unless we are granted loans or advance payment in the next two or three weeks, we cannot be responsible for future Soyuz production.”

According to other sources, the announcement came as Energiya failed to receive critical government-backed loans from commercial banks.

The Soyuz TMA-12 landed safely on Friday with cosmonauts Sergei Volkov, Oleg Kononenko and US space tourist Richard Garriott after being docked on the ISS for six months. Garriott did not stay for this period however, he was launched on October 12th with the crew of Expedition 18 (onboard Soyuz TMA-13 that will return in April next year). Friday was the first nominal landing of a Soyuz vehicle since TMA-9; both TMA-10 (Oct. 21st, 2007) and TMA-11 (April 19th, 2008) suffered separation anomalies, forcing “ballistic re-entries.” It must have been a relief for Volkov, Kononenko and Garriott to touch down on target, ending the spate of bad luck for Soyuz.

Soyuz is the primary method to get to and from the ISS (as you can probably guess from the above paragraph), and when the shuttle is retired in 2010, it will be the only method for the US to access the orbital outpost. However, this is a solution to the “5-year gap” between shuttle retirement and Constellation launch (scheduled for 2015) that many find difficult to come to terms with, especially with the increasing political discord between the US and Russia.

Even after US Congress signed a Iran-North Korea-Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA) waiver earlier this month, permitting NASA to buy Soyuz flights after 2011, it looks like the problems haven’t ended for US manned access to space. The waiver will be useless if there’s no Soyuz vehicles being built!

Whether the warning from Energiya’s president should be taken seriously or not, once again US space flight is being restricted by internal problems in other countries. More initiatives like NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Program need to be considered to further stimulate private sector space flight. Wouldn’t it make more sense to purchase US rocket launches with SpaceX after 2010 rather than buying Soyuz flights? Fortunately the private sector is catching onto this idea, so hopefully we’ll have dependable means to transport cargo to the ISS — possibly even crew — after 2010…

News source: Space Daily, MSNBC

October 16, 2008December 24, 2015 by Ian O'Neill

The Zero-Gravity Coffee Maker: Space Station Luxury or Necessity?

The secret design will allow astronauts to enjoy the rich taste and aroma of fresh coffee in space (Telegraph)

Costa Rican engineering students invent a coffee percolator for use in orbit

[/caption]Imagine: You’ve just woken up on board the space station half-way through your six-month mission in zero-gravity. You probably feel a little home sick and you crave a drink that will pick up your mood, preparing you for a tough day of overseeing experiments in Kibo and keeping up with your station schedule for the day. You go to the galley for some coffee. Instant, bad tasting coffee at that. You put the instant coffee container into the microwave and heat up the sour, plastic-tasting brew. Did that make you feel any better? Or did it just make you crave the smell of real, freshly ground coffee beans you’re used to on Earth?

Franklin Chang-Diaz, a veteran NASA astronaut who spent a lot of time on the International Space Station (ISS), knows all too well the taste of really bad microwaved space coffee. So, in an effort to make life a little better for the current astronauts in orbit, Chang has asked two engineering students to design a machine that can percolate fresh-ground coffee in zero gravity…

It may seem like a trivial problem. After all, astronauts on board the ISS are bound to suffer some inconveniences whilst working on space; they are strong, intelligent individuals who understand the sacrifices they need to make to belong to this exclusive group of space pioneers. However, as we spend more time in space, there is an increasing desire for the creature comforts of home, especially if you have to spend six months on board a cramped and (soon-to-be) crowded orbital outpost.

In an effort to confront a personal grievance with his experiences in space, Franklin Chang-Diaz, a seasoned NASA astronaut who has flown on seven Shuttle missions and helped to build the ISS, has approached two students at the Technological Institute of Costa Rica to design and build a coffee machine. But this isn’t any ordinary coffee machine, it is a coffee percolator that works in zero g, dispensing with the need for instant microwaved coffee.

View the Telegraph news report on the “Coffee Infuser” »

So, Daniel Rozen and Josue Solano came up with a solution. The biggest problems faced when wanting to percolate hot water through ground coffee in space are, a) there’s no gravity to draw the water through the coffee, b) liquids will float in globules and stick to instrumentation, and c) hot globules of water will create vapour and will probably be quite dangerous (after all, the last thing the ISS crew will need are scalding blobs of water flying around!). Enter the secretive “Coffee Infuser.”

The prototype coffee infuser (Telegraph)

“We turn on the switch. The machine will heat the water to 90 degrees centigrade, the ideal temperature for a cup of coffee,” Rozen explains. “Once the water reaches that temperature, we direct the water which is found in the heating chamber towards where the container is found, resulting in a delicious cup of coffee.”

In an intense environment where crew well-being is critical to mission success or failure, the idea of a space-age coffee infuser seems like a good idea. However, in space, where mass dictates how much a mission costs, the Costa Rican engineers will have to find a way of either making their prototype a lot smaller or integrate it seamlessly into a new piece of kit. Until a smaller version is available I doubt it will be considered to be a critical appliance for the station… (although it would be nice to wake up to the smell of freshly brewed coffee when the Sun is rising over the limb of the Earth…)

Source: Telegraph Online