Nov. 12, 2004

Dolores Beasley 
Headquarters, Washington
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

RELEASE: 04-372

NASA ADVANCES WATER RECYCLING FOR SPACE TRAVEL AND EARTH USE

Would Columbus have reached the New World if his ships could not carry 
enough water for their crews? Would Lewis and Clark have made it to 
the Pacific if they had no fresh water along the way?

The answer is probably no, because water is just as precious to 
explorers as it is to everyone on Earth. Water is one of the most 
crucial provisions astronauts need to live and work in space, whether 
orbiting Earth, working at a lunar base or traveling to Mars. That's 
why NASA is following several different but complementary avenues at 
four agency centers to develop dependable ways of recycling water.

"Developing innovative life support technologies will reduce risks 
associated with human space exploration," said Eugene Trinh, director 
of the Human System Research and Technology Program, NASA 
Headquarters, Washington. "We are working to improve technology used 
onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and have several 
research projects under way for future missions to the moon and 
Mars."

ISS crewmembers must save as much water as possible. Each is allocated 
about two liters daily. They stretch the ration by collecting, 
cleaning and reusing wastewater, condensate in the air and urine. A 
new technology to improve recycling on the ISS is being developed by 
engineers at Hamilton Sundstrand Space Systems International, Inc., 
Windsor Locks, Conn., and researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight 
Center (MSFC), Huntsville, Ala. The Water Processor Assembly (WPA) 
will be the first major hardware delivery of the Regenerative 
Environmental Control Life Support System. The WPA and the Urine 
Processor Assembly make up the Water Recovery System (WRS), which 
feeds the Oxygen Generation System. These combined systems will 
support up to a seven-member crew.

"The Water Processing Assembly can daily produce 35 gallons of potable 
recycled water," said Bob Bagdigian, MSFC Regenerative Environmental 
Control and Life Support System Project Manager. After the new 
systems are installed, annual delivered water to the ISS should 
decrease by approximately 15,960 pounds, about 1,600 gallons. The WPA 
is scheduled for delivery in 2008.
Water purity is also important. Chemical and microbial contaminants 
make it unappetizing or unhealthy, and it can clog complicated fluid 
systems. The Aerobic Rotational Membrane System (ARMS) research 
project at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla., may help. "We're 
trying to move toward a biological treatment method using bacteria to 
help cleanse the water," said Tony Rector, Dynamac Corporation 
bioprocess engineer at KSC. The KSC prototype shop fabricated a model 
of the system. It is being tested inside KSC's Space Life Sciences 
Laboratory, and Rector and colleagues designed it. 

At NASA's Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Calif., a water 
recycler enabling reuse for three years without resupply is being 
developed on a timeline to fit into exploration plans, according to 
ARC scientist Michael Flynn. A preliminary engineering development 
unit can hourly recycle 13.2 pounds, about one gallon, of waste into 
drinkable water.

"If we were going to Mars tomorrow, this is the water treatment system 
astronauts might well use," Flynn said. He is developing it in 
cooperation with Water Reuse Technology, Inc., Garden Valley, Calif. 
"This unit can enable a six-person crew to shower, wash clothes and 
dishes, drink water and flush toilets over three years without 
resupply," Flynn said.Engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), 
Houston, are developing technology to help astronauts live in space. 
They are studying biological water processors to minimize their size 
in space habitats. JSC microbiologist Leticia Vega describes her work 
as making biological water processors modular, so they can be easily 
removed and cleaned. Researchers are also identifying soaps that 
rapidly degrade at high concentrations. Cleansers, like shampoo and 
soap, affect the size of systems, because of the time it takes for 
them to break down. Researchers are studying ways of optimizing size 
of ion exchange beds used for the final purification of water. 

Water recycling technologies developed by NASA will undergo combined 
water recovery systems testing at JSC to meet exploration timelines. 
Many of these recycling technologies may have Earth-based uses. NASA 
is working with the Expeditionary Unit Water Purification Program of 
the U.S. Office of Naval Research and Bureau of Reclamation to 
explore ways to use recycling in remote locations. For information 
about the Environmental Control and Life Support System, visit:


http://www1.msfc.nasa.gov/NEWSROOM/background/facts/eclss.pdf

For ARMS images, visit: 

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/index.cfm

Water recycler images: 

http://amesnews.arc.nasa.gov/releases/2004/vpcar/vpcar.html

JSC water recovery systems: 

http://advlifesupport.jsc.nasa.gov/water/index.html

	
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