“There’s coffee in that nebula”… ehm, I mean… in that #Dragon. pic.twitter.com/9MYrqIOXnI
— Sam Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) April 17, 2015
In season one of Star Trek Voyager Captain Janeway needed to conserve replicator power so couldn’t use it for real coffee. They approach a nebula hoping to collect enough energy to use for luxuries necessities like coffee.
Captain Janeway: There’s coffee in that nebula.
In the photo Cristoforetti, the first Italian woman in space, is wearing Janeway’s uniform while waiting for the Dragon module to bring them a custom made espresso machine, dubbed the ISSpresso.
The company that made the machine, Argotec, explains the development process here. What I’m curious about is who came up with the idea for the photo. Lavazza, the coffee supplier? Argotec? The Italian Space Agency? Cristoforetti? Someone on the ISS social media team?
Cristoforetti already has an amazing resume, and starting this week she will officially be the first to have the job I’ve read about in science fiction for decades, space barista.
