ISSpresso: ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has first espresso on board the ISS

ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti has tried out her ISSpresso machine for the first time, enjoying a coffee from the specially designed espresso machine that was recently sent up to the International Space Station.

Cristoforetti shared a picture of herself drinking from a cup designed for use in zero-gravity, saying: "Fresh espresso in the new Zero-G cup! To boldly brew..."

To mark her first espresso in space, Cristoforetti put on her Star Trek uniform. She did not say whether she enjoyed the coffee or not.

The ISSpresso machine, designed by Italian coffee company Lavazza, was sent up to space on board SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in April.

It planned to send the machine to the ISS in January but the original shipment was lost in a launch explosion.

Cristoforetti is due to return to Earth in the next few weeks. A live transmission of her return journey with Expedition 41S crewmates Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov and Nasa astronaut Terry Virts will be broadcast on 14 May.

The trio is due to land at 1.03am GMT in Kazakhstan and the livestream will show their final descent, the landing of the Soyuz capsule and the crew emerging for the first time for six months.