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Astronaut invents coffee cup for a weightless cup o' joe
Astronaut Donald Pettit loves his morning coffee, but it just wasn't the same drinking it out of an aluminum bag as he soared above the earth on Space Shuttle mission STS-126. That's when he invented the On-Orbit Coffee Cup, rendered here by designer Travis Baldwin.
Take a look at the gallery below to see how the cup works using surface tension, that same attractive property that allows soap to lift grease and dirt from your body, and lets you fill a glass of water fuller than its top. Drinking coffee in orbit will never be the same, just in time for that Fishbowl Spaceship tour we're planning.
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Via Tuvie
By beastmaster at 4:39 PM ON 02/26/09
The real question is, how do you get the coffee into the cup while in a weightless environment?
By whomiga at 5:16 PM ON 02/26/09
Place it on a spout which pressure forces the right amount of coffee into the cup (It wouldn't obviously matter which direction the spout was oriented). The spout could be sealed to the cup and have a special vent to let air out while the coffee is being forced into the cup.
By Stan Winstone at 7:26 PM ON 02/26/09
Erm- how big is the zero-gravity coffee addict market exactly?
By beerman55448 at 9:27 PM ON 02/26/09
Why not just put a lid on the cup ?
By joshikins at 11:46 AM ON 02/27/09
@ Beerman55448. Although a lid would keep the coffee in the cup, it does not solve the problem of getting it out. If you are in a weightless environment and you tip your coffee cup to drink from it...nothing comes out.
By R3MY at 2:04 PM ON 02/27/09
What happened to just using a closed container and a straw?
I hope they try this out on cold beverages first.
By wafter at 2:47 PM ON 02/27/09
It disgusts me that whoever designed this is even suggesting that it's desirable to make a "disposable" version of this. There's only so much material (and room) on this planet- much less on a spacecraft!
It would be a nice design, if it were reusable!
By ron at 9:40 PM ON 02/27/09
A sippee cup would be too simple. Nobody would ever think of that.
By whomiga at 1:14 PM ON 02/28/09
A sippee cup uses gravity to move the liquid to the top for removal.
By superpooper at 10:22 AM ON 03/03/09
It's seem's really cool, but inpractical. A plastic straw works just fine.
By Klugeet at 2:37 AM ON 03/04/09
The plastic straw and sippee cup work fine in gravity, but they RELY on gravity to work. Neither would work in microgravity(space station gravity)
By ilorien at 8:52 AM ON 03/05/09
Beautiful design... even if it does look a bit like a toilet or hospital bed pan from some angles. Agree entirely with Wafter though: disposable is not an admirable goal when it comes to space travel, and even less so when considering extended sojourns in orbit.
By marti jackson at 1:36 PM ON 03/05/09
have you ever tried to drink hot coffee through a straw? Very Bad Idea (tm). besides, this cup is just a novelty for the astronauts for the time being... if it leads to other advances for future travels and travellers, more's the better.
By Clumsy Mary at 4:08 PM ON 03/05/09
I want one for my car.
By joshikins at 4:55 PM ON 03/06/09
@Clumsy Mary. Wait wut...
By Joe at 11:02 AM ON 03/08/09
Great, yet another contraption biased for the right-handers...
never fails that they leave us lefties out in the cold.
By future gadgets at 3:26 AM ON 07/20/09
neat invention. too bad ill probably never get to use one of those :/
-Jack
By Jack at 3:27 AM ON 07/20/09
thats because the majority of people are righties, and here in america, majority rules o_o
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