This is the Galley Table where astronauts eat meals at the International Space Station:

"The Galley Table at the International Space Station: a trade-off between biological and engineering constraints"

Zero gravity…and what looks like zero design. Enter Industrial Design student Iris Yao, who's pursuing her Masters at Sweden's Lund University School of Industrial Design.

"Currently, most research on space food design has emphasized the functional and nutritional aspects of food. What's lacking about dining at the ISS is the human factor. How can the tools be adapted to the human rather than the other way around?

"Though the Galley Table is rigid and stable, it is over-engineered for a Zero-G habitat. In the constant state of weightlessness up in space, structural support standards are of less significance compared to here on earth."

Yao's alternative design, developed with supervision and input from NASA:

"Using an elastic net as a tabletop reduces the weight of the construction and allows the users to stick loose objects in the grid. Taking away the need to use tape and velcro declutters and reduces the messy appearance of the table."

"The design is configurable in size and allows an astronaut to single-handedly extend the table through a button that functions like ones on luggage handles. The tabletop rolls up automatically like in a roller shade, creating a constant tension on the surface."

Executed under the supervision of:

- Larry Toups - Exploration Mission Planning Office at Johnson Space Center, NASA

- Dr. Olga Bannova - Director of the Space Architecture Graduate Program, Houston University

With input from:

- Albert Magh - Project manager of Wetlab 1 at Johnson Space Center, NASA

- David Fitts - Associate Chief for Human Systems Integration, NASA