Pushing recycling limits

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Nasa jubilant at urine solution

Astronauts have fixed a urine-recycling unit on the International Space Station, needed to support a six-person crew at the research outpost next year.

The mission of the US space shuttle Endeavour was extended by one day to fix the machine, which is designed to convert urine into drinking water.

The equipment had failed several times since it was delivered a week ago.

The shuttle is now due to return to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday after 16 days in orbit.

"Not to spoil anything, but I think up here the appropriate words are 'Yippee!'," space station Commander Mike Fincke told mission control early on Tuesday morning.

He supervised work on the malfunctioning water regeneration system - which distils, filters, ionises and oxidises wastewater including urine, perspiration and bath water, into drinkable water.

He reported that two rounds of modifications to stabilise the device's centrifuge appeared to have worked.

"There will be dancing later," mission controllers replied.

The urine device has already completed a full five-hour run on Monday and was nearing completion of a second full run on Tuesday morning, the Associated Press reported.

Engineers planned to keep the device operating throughout the day in the hope of producing enough processed urine before Endeavour's departure on Friday.

Nasa needs the new system operating before it can expand the station's crew from three to six people, which is currently scheduled for May 2009.

Home improvement

The urine-recycling device was ferried into orbit and installed in the space station's Destiny laboratory after the shuttle arrived on 16 November.

The Endeavour mission is part of a $250m (£165m) "home improvement" effort at the space station.

As well as the recycling unit, the space station has been fitted with a new freezer, a scientific oven, two sleeping quarters, exercise equipment, an additional toilet and new food preparation facilities.

The fix came a day after astronauts finished a fourth and final spacewalk to repair a mechanism to keep the station's solar panels pointed towards the sun.

While the crews slept, engineers on the ground watched as the newly-repaired joint automatically pivoted to track the sun for the first time in a year.

Work has been somewhat slower than expected because astronaut Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper lost her tool bag during the first spacewalk.

Nasa plans eight more flights to the station, a $100bn (£66bn) project of 16 nations, before the shuttles are retired in 2010.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7748818.stm

Published: 2008/11/25 18:44:47 GMT

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Urine passes Nasa taste test

By Irene Klotz
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Astronauts flying aboard space shuttle Endeavour on Saturday plan to deliver a device to the International Space Station that may leave you wondering if Nasa is taking recycling too far.

Among the ship's cargo, which will help prepare the station for an expanded six-person crew, is a water regeneration system that, as one astronaut puts it, "will make yesterday's coffee into today's coffee".

"It's one of these great circle-of-life things," explained Don Pettit, a former space station science officer serving as a mission specialist aboard Endeavour.

The new system distils, filters, ionizes and oxidizes wastewater - including urine -- into fresh water for drinking.

The US space agency wasn't really thinking about saving the environment when it decided to invest $250m in the water recycling gear.

With the space shuttles due to retire in two years, Nasa needed another way to make sure the station crew would have a good supply of fresh water.

The orbiters make water as a byproduct of their electrical systems. On missions to the space station, the water is bagged and transferred over to the outpost for storage.

"When the shuttles retire, that nice water-delivery system that we have will go away," said Endeavour astronaut Sandra Magnus, who will be staying behind on the station for a four-month flight.

"In addition we're going to have six people on-station, so our requirements for water will go up."

Ms Magnus replaces Nasa astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who has been aboard the station since June.

Nasa doesn't plan to start using the new system immediately - engineers want samples to analyse to make sure it functions properly in zero-gravity.

The water has been thoroughly tested on Earth, including blind taste tests that pitted recycled urine with similarly treated tap water.

"Some people may think it's downright disgusting, but if it's done correctly, you process water that's purer than what you drink here on Earth," said Endeavour astronaut Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper.

The most frequent comment was the faint taste of iodine in the water, added Nasa's Bob Bagdigian, who oversaw development of the water regeneration system.

Iodine is added at the final step of the process to control microbial growth.

"Other than that, it is just as refreshing as any other kind of water," Mr Bagdigian said.

"I've got some in my fridge. It tastes fine to me."

Nasa plans to double the station's crew size from three to six as early as May.

Endeavour also will be delivering two new sleeping compartments, more exercise gear, a galley and perhaps most important, a second toilet.

"With six people, you really do need to have a two-bathroom house. It's a lot more convenient and a lot more efficient," Ms Magnus said.

Astronauts also plan to work on the space station's solar power system. Four spacewalks are scheduled to begin repairs on a contaminated rotary joint needed to aim solar panels at the Sun.

The flight is the fourth and final mission of the year.

Nasa had hoped to fly a servicing call to the Hubble Space Telescope last month but delayed the mission to May 2009 to prepare for some additional repair work on the observatory.

In all, Nasa plans 10 more shuttle flights before the fleet is retired in 2010.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7729085.stm

Published: 2008/11/14 14:48:49 GMT