The International Space Station orbiting our planet at an altitude of about 400 kilometers and with a speed of 7.8 kilometers per second a rotating man-made satellite.

The station is home to astronauts who conduct research and conduct a series of experiments to improve our knowledge of how things work in space.

Astronauts, like us, have essential basic needs.

We can say that there are many life support systems on the International Space Station to ensure that the crew lives in space as comfortably as possible.

There is no doubt that the three most important things astronauts need to survive miles above the Earth’s surface water, food and oxygen.

Although the station actually remains in the Earth’s atmosphere, it is known as the thermosphere layer. At this altitude, air molecules are too scarce to be used for breathing. How can they not run out of oxygen in this case?

At the station they produce the oxygen they need.

NASA is very good at recycling what they already have on the station. The system tasked with producing the oxygen needed on the International Space Station. Oxygen production system (Oxygen Generation System) was mentioned.

This system It separates water into its components by electrolysis, releasing oxygen and hydrogen gases.

We can briefly explain the electrolysis process as follows;

The process of separating chemical compounds dissolved in a liquid using electric current is called electrolysis. When we apply this process only to water, water (H2O) oxygen (O2) and hydrogen (H2) splits into molecules.

Oxygen gas obtained by electrolysis mixes with the air of the space station. In this way, the breathing air of the station can be preserved. released during electrolysis. hydrogen, on the other hand, was removed from the station because it was an explosive gas. So until 2010. We’ll get to that in a minute, but let’s look at the water part first…

They produce oxygen from water, so how come the water doesn’t run out?

Aboard the International Space Station, tasked with providing adequate power, breathing air, clean water, and proper temperature and humidity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. nothing should be lost.

The water recovery system on the space station supplies most of the clean water needed. This system, which can collect and condense the moisture in the air, including the sweat and urine of research animals and astronauts on the station. It purifies all types of waste water and makes it ready for reuse.

Strange as it may sound, NASA has determined that the water comes from the purification process even cleaner than bottled drinking water says yes.

They also use hydrogen to produce water.

Another system used on the International Space Station since 2010, carbon and oxygen by capturing carbon dioxide produced by living activity from the air splits it into molecules.

When the hydrogen left after the production of oxygen by electrolysis enters this system, after some chemical reactions, water and methane are formed. The resulting water can be reused at the station.

Because the amount of hydrogen used in this process is too large, sometimes the hydrogen produced by electrolysis is not enough. In these cases, since it will be very expensive to send enough water from Earth to the space station, oxygen and hydrogen gases can be sent in compressed tubes as needed.