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Coffee in Space: Keeping Crew Members Grounded in Flight
Happy National Coffee Day, coffee lovers!
On Earth, a double shot mocha latte with soymilk, low-fat whip and a caramel drizzle is just about as complicated as a cup of coffee gets. Aboard the International Space Station, however, even just a simple cup of black coffee presents obstacles for crew members.
Understanding how fluids behave in microgravity is crucial to bringing the joys of the coffee bean to the orbiting laboratory. Astronaut Don Pettit crafted a DIY space cup using a folded piece of overhead transparency film. Surface tension keeps the scalding liquid inside the cup, and the shape wicks the liquid up the sides of the device into the drinker’s mouth.
The Capillary Beverage investigation explored the process of drinking from specially designed containers that use fluid dynamics to mimic the effect of gravity. While fun, this study could provide information useful to engineers who design fuel tanks for commercial satellites!
The capillary beverage cup allows astronauts to drink much like they would on Earth. Rather than drinking from a shiny bag and straw, the cup allows the crew member to enjoy the aroma of the beverage they’re consuming.
On Earth, liquid is held in the cup by gravity. In microgravity, surface tension keeps the liquid stable in the container.
The ISSpresso machine brought the comforts of freshly-brewed coffees and teas to the space station. European astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti enjoyed the first cup of espresso brewed using the ISSpresso machine during Expedition 43.
Now, during Expedition 53, European astronaut Paolo Nespoli enjoys the same comforts.
Astronaut Kjell Lindgren celebrated National Coffee Day during Expedition 45 by brewing the first cup of hand brewed coffee in space.
We have a latte going on over on our Snapchat account, so give us a follow to stay up to date! Also be sure to follow @ISS_Research on Twitter for your daily dose of space station science.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space: http://nasa.tumblr.com.
Sensing Mars: NASA Co-Op #2 Week Nine
Running trials with the new humidity on my fluid rig showed the fruits of my labor finally ripened. This week I ran three trials to collect data determining if a small business designed Humidity Sensor makes accurate measurements. NASA collaborates with small businesses to solve problems related to upcoming missions. The small business designed this Humidity Sensor so it could measure the humidity on Mars without corroding due to the planet’s chemistry.
Using sensors that NASA is familiar with I ran trial cases to get three different data points and compared those measurements to the new sensor. I created a low humidity environment with a desiccant (drier), created a moderate humidity with ambient air and a high humidity environment with a water bubbler. Using a National Instruments cDAQ (compact data acquisition) I collected data from a thermocouple, pressure gauge and a Vaisala humidity sensor that measures dew point (the temperature at which air can no longer “hold” all of the water vapor which is mixed with it) and mixing ratio (mass of water vapor over the mass of dry air). The new humidity sensor simply gives me the parts per million (ppm) of water using it’s ultrasensitive laser absorption spectroscopy. My other sensors don’t give me a ppm value so I have to calculate it using equations from my mentors “Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics” book.
Building this trial rig was a unique experience because it required knowledge in electronics to interpret the signals sent by the sensors, computer science to write the data acquisition program and VNC (Virtual Network Computing) and chemical engineering to interpret data reported and use correct thermodynamics principles and equations. Next week will be looking at the data and get tangible values about how accurate the new Humidity Sensor is.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
Check out the AstrOlympics
See what NASA was up to this week
Apply for a NASA Co-Op
Apply for a NASA Internship
Hey guys! So recently I learned about RedBubble, a site that lets you basically upload any artwork you want and make various tshirts, bags, phone cases, etc. using the image. Personally, I find that there are certain drawings and paintings that I’ve made that I couldn’t bear the thought of parting with the original, so I think that RedBubble would be a great place for me to reach out to you guys with new artwork without having to actually having to give it away. I’m sure many artists can agree that you always have that one painting or drawing that means too much to you, no matter how much someone else may be willing to take it.
The pictures above are the current pieces that I’ve got up on my site, but there are going to be A LOT of others coming in very shortly- I’ll update you guys as new ones come up.
If you want to check out what I’ve got for yourself, you can follow the link here: https://www.redbubble.com/people/paintingfire448?ref=account-nav-dropdown&asc=u
Hey! Here’s some of my more recent work from the last couple of days of the fall semester. I loved making these! The first two were experimental attempts I made with different fluid acrylic painting techniques (regular fluid acrylic and drip fluid acrylic). The last one was one I made to address a little split in my interests. I’ve always loved making art, but I also really starting getting in programming and computer science, so I made a painting of it to show two possible paths I’m considering in the future.
If you’re interested, I’ve made these three paintings and some other paintings and drawings available as prints on my deviant art page. A link to it can be found here: http://paintingfire.deviantart.com/
I’ve also been working a lot on my etsy page (https://www.etsy.com/shop/PaintingFire448?ref=hdr_shop_menu) , so any feedback there would help out a lot, too! Thanks!