International Space Station crew members on Expedition 19 drank recycled urine provided by a recycling and purifying machine, and lived to tell the tale.
Recycling urine, sweat and other human bodily fluids will be critical to the success of long solar system voyages, such as a mission to Mars, because water can’t be brought from Earth to supply those humanoids who will be away from the big blue marble for two years or more.
As well, even before such daunting missions, the recycling capability is needed closer to home on the space station, because it now is doubling the crew size to six. And recycling will be indispensable (sorry) if the United States opens a permanently staffed outpost on the moon.
The system was installed in the orbiting laboratory, but wasn’t used until water samples were checked on Earth, showing that the recycling machine was working well in turning human liquids into potable (drinkable) water.
Mission Control radioed the news to the crew members that they could drink water from the machine.
Expedition 19 Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineers Mike Barratt and Koichi Wakata celebrated the decision with a toast in the Destiny laboratory, raising vials of the recycled water.
Space Shuttle Endeavour, on the STS-126 Mission, delivered the Water Recovery System to the station in November. Mission Specialist Don Pettit and Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke installed the equipment before Endeavour’s departure.
The system has been processing urine into purified water since Space Shuttle Discovery and the STS-119 Mission crew delivered and installed a replacement Urine Processing Assembly in March.
The system is tied into the station’s Waste and Hygiene Compartment toilet and recovers and recycles moisture from the station’s atmosphere.
The crews of STS-126, Expedition 18 and STS-119 returned samples of the recycled water to Earth. A total of 5.28 gallons (20 liters) of recycled water were tested for purity at the Water and Microbiology Laboratories at Johnson.
A special Space Station Program Control Board meeting on April 27 reviewed the analysis, which showed contaminants were well below established limits, and concurred that the water is safe and healthy to drink. Mission managers elected to postpone consumption until a sticky check valve in the Urine Processing Assembly was removed May 18.
Space station crews will monitor the purity of the recycled water with on-board equipment and periodically send down samples for testing on Earth.
After the toast, there was no food-critic-style rating or taste test opinions on whether the water was appetizing.