Low-Gravity Space Cups Look Like the Best Part of Being an Astronaut

So much cooler than drinking from a bag with a straw.

Some people might become astronauts to experience micro-gravity in the vacuum of space. Other might the revelation of seeing the Earth from above. Me? I want to try out these super cool astronaut cups. 

Development of these clever cups started last year when engineering firm IRPI started looking into ways to let astronauts drink espresso in space without having to suck it out of a bag. Since there's no appreciable gravity to keep liquid from flying out of a cup on the ISS, these space cups instead rely on surface tension and are designed in such a way that the main globe of liquid will keep itself glommed to the bottom of the cup while capillary action lets the drinker sip from the giant drop without splattering it. It's not the same as drinking in gravity, but it's similar. 

Recently, the astronauts on the ISS actually printed out a few of the cups using the station's on-board 3D-printer and have been testing them out. And while some timelapse clips show the cool tricks these cups are capable of (like siphoning fruit punch from a bag), the real prize is footage of Astronauts Scott Kelly and Kjell Lindgren messing around with the things and taking them to their limits. If drinking from a space-cup while doing a somersault isn't a fantastic reason to want to go to space I don't know what is. 

Source: NASA, IRPI

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
More From Space