{"id":22405,"date":"2014-07-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/?p=22405"},"modified":"2014-07-02T22:33:05","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T02:33:05","slug":"recently-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/2014\/07\/recently-in-space.html","title":{"rendered":"Recently in…Space"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few months after returning from a stint on the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins was ready to talk about his experience. During an hour-long Reddit.com Ask Me Anything session<\/a><\/strong>, Hopkins covered everything from space sweat to space enchiladas. In fact, the majority of his commentary feels like a person describing a normal day on earth. Hearing Hopkins describe his ISS workout regimen and share low-earth orbit reading list makes space seem strangely familiar.<\/p>\n

\"NASA\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With more industry privatization, familiarity is becoming a reality, and humanity is beginning to close in on the final frontier. While most of us are not bidding $1.5 million for a Virgin Galactic seat next to Leonardo DiCaprio<\/a><\/strong>, the fact that space tourism is a possibility is one giant step toward \u201cnormal\u201d space travel. Space normalcy might be hard to believe, but remember the Wright Brothers first flight was only 111 years ago. Given the speed of modern technology, imagine how far we\u2019ll soar over the next generation. This week\u2019s \u201cRecently in\u201d looks at some of the advancements that are helping us all get closer to the stars.<\/p>\n

Capsule coffee machine: astronauts’ espresso desires answered<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing more familiar than your morning routine. You know what happens when a routine is interrupted. Now imagine being denied your morning cup of Joe 250 miles above the earth. Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together\u2026mass hysteria! No need to worry. Space espresso is on the menu. Set for launch in 2015, the ISSpresso was created by Lavazza and Argotec to put an end to bad coffee on the ISS. How does it taste? NASA astronaut Donald Pettit has already crowned the beverage, \u201cthe best coffee that we\u2019ve ever had in space.\u201d<\/p>\n