For years, astronauts on spacewalks around the International Space Station (ISS) have relieved themselves using disposable diapers inside their spacesuits. However, now scientists say that they have devised a new way that could recycle astronauts' urine into drinkable water within minutes. According to New Scientist, researchers in New York developed an 8-kilogram device that could fit in a spacesuit and can recycle urine with 87% efficiency through a two-step osmosis filter.
Scientists at Cornell University described their new device in a paper published in the journal Frontiers in Space Technology. In the research, they noted that the current solution is fine for spacewalks that tend to last only a few hours, but increasing activity in space means a better solution will be needed. Notably, NASA's current solution is the Maximum Absorbency Garment, which is basically an adult diaper for collecting urine and faeces. At the end of a spacewalk, these diapers go into the ISS' waste system, eventually being burnt up in Earth's atmosphere.
However now, scientists have developed a new, lightweight system that can collect and purify water from urine within a person's spacesuit in just five minutes. If implemented, the system would involve astronauts wearing an undergarment that is made from a flexible compression material and lined with antimicrobial fabric. The device also includes a humidity sensor that senses urine.
The detection of pee switches on a vacuum pump that then draws the urine up into a filtration device carried on the astronaut's back. The pee would then be transformed into fresh water that could subsequently be delivered into the spacesuit's drink bag.
According to New Scientist, this filtration technique is the same one as already used on the ISS. However, the team says that it is easier to extract water from pure urine as it doesn't include soaps and chemicals.
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The new system is still in its initial stage. But so far, in the lab, the device has been shown to effectively remove the major components of urine and reduce its salt levels to meet health standards, the team said.
"Getting urine away from the body as quickly as possible should reduce some of the health complications that astronauts are currently experiencing like rashes, urinary tract infections, and digestive distress," Sofia Etlin, the lead study author and a researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine, told Live Science.
"Second, the greater overall supply of water that our system generates will keep the astronauts hydrated," Ms Etlin added.
