Microgravity tableware brings gastronomic pleasure to space

Astronauts could have a more joyful, Earth-like dining experience using Latvian designer Klinta Locmele's Zero collection of microgravity tableware made for eating in space.

Zero is a speculative project that formed Locmele's final-year work in the Product and Furniture Design bachelor's course at Chelsea College of Arts. Her designs include a plate covered in spikes, a grooved spork and an alien-looking teapot.

Locmele's goal is to allow astronauts to eat a wider variety of foods in space and use crockery rather than single-serving plastic pouches.

"Eating in microgravity might seem fun, but it's tedious work," said Locmele. "Due to the lack of control in microgravity conditions, currently, there are heavy criteria on food and its consumption on space stations."

"Most meals are semi-solid and consumed from plastic pouches, making the experience more of a chore."

Drinking, picking up food, cutting and managing liquids are all issues in microgravity, where objects and substances are near weightless.

To address these challenges, Locmele sought to harness the power of capillary action. On Earth, capillary action can be seen in the way water rises up plant roots via thin xylem vessels, or absorbs onto the fibres of a paper towel.

It moves without the assistance of gravity or any other external forces and is instead the result of water molecules sticking to each other and the solid surface of a narrow space, like a tube.

In microgravity, this phenomenon becomes even more important.

"On Earth, capillarity is usually observed in small-scale effects because gravity limits how far the liquid can rise," Locmele told Dezeen. "In microgravity, however, liquid dynamics are much harder to control; they almost behave with a mind of their own."

"Capillary action becomes the main force, allowing liquids to move controllably through narrow channels, cling to surfaces and even be 'pinned' in place by sharp edges or grooves."

For this reason, Locmele designed the Zero tableware to have concave shapes, surface textures, and sharp angles and edges – all features that help to keep liquids contained rather than liable to float away.

Her reusable bowl, made of silicone, has a narrow bottom for this purpose, while the accompanying spoon has a deep well with an angular shoulder that stops fluid food like soup from sliding down the handle.

Other aspects of the design are also geared towards creating a more pleasant dining experience in microgravity.

The bowl includes a suction cup on the bottom that allows it to be secured to surfaces. Locmele also designed a plate that combines grooves, which use capillary action to contain sauces, with spikes that could hold bite-sized morsels in place and allow them to be handled with a fork or knife.

The Zero collection also includes a teapot that is designed to capture something of the "ritualistic pleasure" of consuming hot drinks on Earth.

Astronauts currently consume hot drinks via plastic pouches, but the teapot is an open container with a contour inside that activates the capillary action and a spout that acts as a straw.

To make it even more like drinking tea or coffee on Earth, the vessel is ceramic, which keeps the contents warmer for longer.

This design builds on an invention by astronaut Donald Pettit, who developed a cup harnessing capillary action while on the International Space Station.

It was Pettit and his cup that inspired Locmele's own work, which has been based on research and interviews with experts and astronauts, though she has not been able to test her prototypes in microgravity.

"I was drawn to the lack of human-centred design in these environments," said Locmele.

"The confined spaces in space stations, the facilities that force astronauts to retrofit their needs to the extraordinary environments, can negatively affect the mental health of the crew, thus potentially compromising the mission, especially as the missions are set to be longer."

NASA and other national space agencies and private partners are currently working to return humanity to the moon via the Artemis programme.

The mission has ignited a boom in space-related design, including, recently, an astronaut training habitat by design studio SAGA and new spacesuits developed with fashion house Prada.

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