Even in space you have to recycle. In fact, particularly in space; you can’t just pop out to the shops after all.
That’s why Nasa has been filling up the space station’s water tanks with the liquid that comes off the shuttle’s electrical system. It’s safe to drink, and it provides the astronauts with all they need. The trouble is, the shuttle is only scheduled to make another 10 flights. Ever. And then it’ll be retired. That’s a problem for the space station as it’ll mean the end of its regular stream of water.
So the next time they head up they’re taking a water recycling unit that will extract and recycle water from the station’s two toilets and the moisture in the air. And when it’s been recycled, the astronauts will be drinking it all over again.
According to Reuters:
NASA expects to process about six gallons (23 litres) of water per day with the new device. The goal is to recover about 92 percent of the water from the crew’s urine and moisture in the air.
One day we’ll probably have this kind of thing in our homes, but not right now. The kit costs £169.7m.
It tastes fine, apparently, and at that price you’d hope it would. Reuters again:
‘We did blind taste tests of the water,’ said NASA’s Bob Bagdigian, the system’s lead engineer. ‘Nobody had any strong objections. Other than a faint taste of iodine, it is just as refreshing as any other kind of water.’
‘I’ve got some in my fridge,” he added. “It tastes fine to me.’
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