A NASA unveiled last Sunday (25) a system capable of converting about 98% of the urine and sweat of its astronauts into drinking water for their use.

called from Ecological control and life support system (ECLSS), Environmental Control and Life Support System, roughly translated, NASA hopes the new process will be a significant support in future space missions.

NASA turns urine into water

The ECLSS process uses “modern dehumidifiers” to trap moisture, the station crew breathes and sweats while performing their daily tasks. Comparisons were made with the stillsuit system described in the literary work Dune, which has recently been adapted for audiovisual media. This process aims to recycle up to 98% of the liquids that could be discarded, including those of the astronauts themselves.

For urine, the process recovers the urine made by the space crew using vacuum distillation. According to NASA, the distillation process produces water and urine brine, which still contains extractable H2O, which is extracted and recovered. Previously, the process recovery rate used by NASA was between 93 and 94%.

“This is a very important step in the evolution of life support systems.“said NASA’s Christopher Brown, who is part of the team that manages the International Space Station’s life support systems. “Let’s say you collect 100 pounds of water from a station. You lose two pounds and the other 98% just keep going in circles. Keeping this functioning is an incredible achievement.”

Sure, the idea of ​​drinking your own urine might make some people uncomfortable, but don’t worry because “treatment is fundamentally similar to some land-based water distribution systems, only under microgravity conditions.said Jill Williamson, NASA ECLSS Aquatic Subsystems Manager. “The crew does not drink urine; they drink water that has been restored, filtered and purified to be purer than what we drink here on Earth.”.

Also, systems like ECLSS will be critical as NASA conducts more missions outside Earth orbit, Williamson said. “The less water and oxygen we have to send, the more science we can add to the booster.” said Williamson. “Reliable and durable regenerative systems mean the crew doesn’t have to worry about it and can focus on the true purpose of their mission.“.

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