There's Water in Urine. NASA Finds It.
Once again, we sing the praises of NASA at HAWT action [hot ak-shuh
n]. We have gushed over NASA's Blue Marble, Next Generation Project. We discovered The Voyager Spacecraft Kick Ass! Prove Solar System is Not Straight! We saw fear in Evacuating From Chad. We measured Myanmar's cyclone power through NASA's Documenting the World: Myanmar and Chile.
This post? Soon astronauts on the International Space Station (photographed above by my camera phone) will be drinking their own urine.
n]. We have gushed over NASA's Blue Marble, Next Generation Project. We discovered The Voyager Spacecraft Kick Ass! Prove Solar System is Not Straight! We saw fear in Evacuating From Chad. We measured Myanmar's cyclone power through NASA's Documenting the World: Myanmar and Chile.
This post? Soon astronauts on the International Space Station (photographed above by my camera phone) will be drinking their own urine.
It's taken decades to perfect. The machine costs $250 million, and will be delivered to the I.S.S. this fall by the shuttle Endeavour. It's a 6-step treatment process that turns toilet water into drinking water. In fact, NASA says it outputs water that is cleaner than that from a U.S. tap.
Why would NASA make the crew drink water they just evacuated? Well, water's very, very heavy, and shipping it up to the space station is difficult. In fact, the staff in the I.S.S. is supposed to double from 3 to 6 soon, and it would practically be impossible to maintain sufficient water supplies. The space station already does quite a few non-traditional water-collection techniques to collect the H2O: evaporated laundry water and sweat.
The system, when installed, is expected to provide half of the crew's water supply.
I admire NASA's persistence (it really took decades?), but don't they know that Russia had a similar machine in the 1980's, but didn't use it because they knew it would give the crew willies to drink their own urine? Apparently, there's no room to care about that now. Beyond Russia, though, haven't they heard of Dean Kamen's machine? Haven't they read this article on HAWTaction: Desalinization? Meet Kamen. He Might Save the World.? Not only could Kamen's machine make their toilet water potable, but they could use their own dung to fuel it. Whooooo-haw!
Thanks, USA Today for this sassy article. (See, it's not always terrible to travel for work... sometimes that USA Today sitting outside the door gets your engine going in the morning!)
Why would NASA make the crew drink water they just evacuated? Well, water's very, very heavy, and shipping it up to the space station is difficult. In fact, the staff in the I.S.S. is supposed to double from 3 to 6 soon, and it would practically be impossible to maintain sufficient water supplies. The space station already does quite a few non-traditional water-collection techniques to collect the H2O: evaporated laundry water and sweat.
The system, when installed, is expected to provide half of the crew's water supply.
I admire NASA's persistence (it really took decades?), but don't they know that Russia had a similar machine in the 1980's, but didn't use it because they knew it would give the crew willies to drink their own urine? Apparently, there's no room to care about that now. Beyond Russia, though, haven't they heard of Dean Kamen's machine? Haven't they read this article on HAWTaction: Desalinization? Meet Kamen. He Might Save the World.? Not only could Kamen's machine make their toilet water potable, but they could use their own dung to fuel it. Whooooo-haw!
Thanks, USA Today for this sassy article. (See, it's not always terrible to travel for work... sometimes that USA Today sitting outside the door gets your engine going in the morning!)
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John, get me one of these $250 million machines. It'd boost my productivity greatly. I'd never have to leave this seat.
Every second I'm away from my computer is another second we have to wait for my upcoming series about climate change.
Come on. $250 million. Don't be stingy.
I'm the best blogger, ever.
- JLF
now they just need a composting toilet and they can grow some amazing space veggies!