Beverage cup for drinking use in spacecraft or weightless environments

摘要

A beverage cup comprised by an open top and at least one channel defined by a corner with an acute angle so placed that the channel runs along the cup side from the cup bottom to the cup rim. In the absence of significant gravitational force as found in microgravity, weightless or weightlessness of spacecraft or the International Space Station, capillary forces between the beverage and the cup wall allow the beverage to creep along the channel and be in near proximity to the open cup rim. Lips placed at or near the channel at the rim can readily sip, drink, and consume the beverage without the need for a straw and without undue spillage for normal drinking motions including toasting. The channel conducts the beverage via capillary forces from the bottom of the cup to the rim until the beverage has been consumed.