Would You like a feature Interview?
All Interviews are 100% FREE of Charge
NASA has achieved a technological milestone that could one day play a key role in missions to the moon and beyond. This week, the space agency (via ) The International Space Station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) says it recycles 98 percent of all water astronauts bring to the station. Functionally, this system can be imagined to work in a similar manner to his Stillsuits described in his Frank Herbert. Part of the ECLSS uses “advanced dehumidifiers” to capture the moisture that the station crew breathes and sweats out as they perform their daily duties.
Another subsystem, imaginatively named the “urine processor assembly”, retrieves the astronaut’s pee with the help of vacuum distillation. According to NASA, the distillation process produces water and a urine brine that still contains renewable H20. NASA recently began testing a new device that can extract residual water from salt water. It is thanks to that system that NASA has observed a 98 percent water recovery rate on the ISS. About 93-94 percent was previously recycled at the station. The astronaut was carrying water.
“This is a very important step forward in the evolution of life support systems,” said NASA’s Christopher Brown, who is part of the team managing life support systems on the International Space Station. “If he collects 100 pounds of water on the station, and if he loses 2 pounds of that, the other 98 percent just keeps spinning around. To keep doing that is a very nice achievement.”
If the thought of someone else drinking your urine makes you nauseous, don’t worry. “The process is basically similar to some terrestrial water distribution systems, just under microgravity,” said Jill Williamson, NASA’s ECLSS water subsystem manager. “The crew doesn’t drink urine. They’re drinking water that’s been recycled, filtered, and purified to be cleaner than anything we drink on Earth.”
Williamson said systems like ECLSS will be important as NASA conducts more missions beyond Earth’s orbit. “The less water and oxygen we need to transport, the more science we can add to the launch vehicle,” Williamson said. “A reliable and robust regeneration system will free the crew from worry and focus on the true purpose of the mission.”