
This cup was designed to sip coffee in space, where low gravity creates problems with fluids. It currently costs $500 to 3-D print in the transparent plastic.

The Portland team began working on the problem after Italy announced it would send an espresso machine to the International Space Station later this year.

Space rations are generally contained in sealed bags. To drink liquids, astronauts suck directly from the bag.

The food, water and oxygen supplies required for astronauts to survive in space results in heavy cargo; a major challenge when planning manned mission to planets such as Mars.

The International Space Station was launched in 1998 and it currently orbits Earth at an altitude of about 400 kilometers.

Astronauts conduct extravehicular activity on the International Space Station.

The bright sun greets the International Space Station from the Russian section of the orbital outpost, photographed by one of the STS-129 crew members.

For years, scientists have taken advantage of parabolic flights to conduct experiments in the simulated zero-gravity field they offer.

The European Space Agency recently opened up parabolic flights to the general public.

In order to achieve the feeling of weightlessness, a plane must shoot up at a 45-degree angle at full engine thrust -- at which point everything inside the plane experiences hypergravity, and is heavier. When the thrust is reduced, the plane is allowed to experience free fall, allowing everything inside to become weightless.