Astronauts might enjoy a drink like Pac-Man devouring snack pellets. Release the droplets from the bag and swallow them before they float.
But it’s not too efficient. The traditional method of squeezing a straw into a Capri Sun-style specially sealed pouch isn’t the most enjoyable way to quench your thirst either.
For the past few years NASA has been working on the Space Cup.(opens in new tab) Keeps liquids in place even when the top is open. The technology is improving the lives of astronauts living in a zero-gravity environment aboard the International Space Station, while also giving scientists new insights into how to design other plumbing systems in space.
Your next skin cream may come from NASA space science
A recent demo by astronaut Nicole Mann may seem magical, but the cup harnesses the properties of fluid dynamics to mimic gravity. In the video below, which was posted to his Twitter on March 2nd, Mann shows how Mann pipes a cappuccino into a special container and gently swirls it around so the hot drink stays in the cup even if it’s tipped over. I’m here.
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A scientist working on a device as part of a capillary flow experiment(opens in new tab) Cups are said to function similarly to their terrestrial counterparts by taking advantage of the combined effects of surface tension, the so-called “wetting” state, and the shape of the cup. A term that describes how a maintains contact with a solid surface.
A cup has at least one channel running from the bottom to the rim. Capillary action between the drink and the walls of the cup causes the drink to slowly flow along the channel and approach the rim. According to the paper, only a small amount of the drink enters the channel and the rest of the liquid stays at the bottom due to capillary forces.(opens in new tab) was announced in natural microgravity last year.
When the astronaut brings their lips close, the liquid is naturally sucked into their mouth. Then you can control how much you receive by changing the mouth shape and suction power.
Space cups can hold liquids without a lid under microgravity due to capillary action.
Credit: NASA
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Capillary action occurs because water is kind of sticky. That is, molecules like to stay together.It’s the same phenomenon that makes plants and trees possible.(opens in new tab) Suck water up through the roots and pull it up with a soaked paper towel, seemingly defying gravity.
Astronaut Don Pettit helped invent the cup(opens in new tab) While working on the space station.He shares a patent granted in 2011(opens in new tab)with physicist Mark Weissrogel and two mathematicians, Paul Concas and Robert Finns.
Various experiments resulted in astronauts drinking bubbly water, limeade, fruit punch, cocoa, coffee, and peach-mango smoothies from space cups. There was an impromptu moment at the beginning of this article when Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti brought a space cup full of espresso to the space station’s cupola.
Astronaut Shel Lindgren prepares to drink from a space cup.
Credit: NASA
It didn’t work out in Houston.
“For ground safety and design engineers, the event was filled with initial warnings that turned into a silent appreciation: an open container of a scalding drink (espresso) in a ‘clean’ spacecraft environment (ISS cupola) Consumed from (Space Cup). — a triple violation,” the authors wrote in their paper. “But the nature of the cup’s ‘plumbing’ solution was earthy enough to pass with limited concern.
Experiments with cups involved intentionally spilled drinks, but astronauts found them easier to contain than similar spills on Earth.You Heard Right: It’s Safer To Have Coffee Next To Your Computer In Space Than On Earth, According To These Researchers(opens in new tab).
Astronauts say the project will improve their drinking experience, allowing them to smell when they drink, which can have a dramatic effect on taste.
