A Soyus space capsule on Monday brought three
astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) - together with
Russian caviar and the first cosmic espresso machine, dpa reported.
The capsule with Samantha Cristoforetti of Italy, Anton Shkaplerov of
Russia and America Terry Virts docked at the ISS six hours after
takeoff in Baikonur, Kazakhstan, the Russian Space Agency said.
Cristoforetti, Italy's first female astronaut, brought the first
authentic Italian espresso machine to space, while her Russian
colleague Shkaplerov carried food for a traditional Russian New Year
meal, including caviar.
Dubbed "ISSpresso," the machine is the first capsule-based espresso
system able to work in the extreme conditions of space, Italian
manufacturer Argotec said in a statement.
The three astronauts are expected to stay 169 days in space. They
join station commander Barry Wilmore of the US and Alexander
Samokutyayev and Yelena Serova of Russia, who have been in space
since September.