Submitted by Arthur - N1ORC

In a remote, hostile, totally alien environment, every life-sustaining resource is precious. In space, other than air, none is more precious than water.

Improving the careful use of that critical resource is the goal of the Vapor Compression Distillation Flight Experiment, which is undergoing tests during the STS-107 Space Shuttle mission launched January 16.Steve Roy

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. January 28,

2003

(Phone: 256/544-0034)

Dolores Beasley

Headquarters, Washington

(Phone: 202/358-1753)

RELEASE: 03-021

SPACE WATER RECYCLING EXPERIMENT FLYING HIGH ABOARD SPACE

SHUTTLE

In a remote, hostile, totally alien environment, every

life-sustaining resource is precious. In space, other than

air, none is more precious than water.

Improving the careful use of that critical resource is the

goal of the Vapor Compression Distillation Flight

Experiment, which is undergoing tests during the STS-107

Space Shuttle mission launched January 16.

The experiment, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight

Center in Huntsville, Ala., is a full-scale demonstration of

technology being developed to convert crewmember urine and

wastewater aboard the International Space Station into clean

water for drinking, cooking and hygiene. Based on results of

the experiment, an operational urine processor could be

installed aboard the Station in the future, thus reducing

the amount of water that must be re-supplied from Earth.

"We operated successfully on Saturday, Sunday and Monday

(Jan.18-20)" said Cindy Hutchens, manager of the Vapor

Compression Distillation Flight Experiment. "Our data look

very similar to that on the ground, so we feel very

confident about our hardware. Mission Specialist Laurel

Clark described our processed water samples as clear, which

is very good. On Sunday, we did a test to see how it would

start up if it lost power, and that appears to be

successful. We're looking forward to getting back our

samples and the recorded data for analysis," she said.

Aboard the Space Station, each of the three crewmembers is

allocated just 4.4 gallons of water per day. By comparison,

the average American uses 60 gallons per day on Earth. Not

only is it costly to carry water into space aboard the Space

Shuttle and Russian Progress spacecraft, but also cargo

space is already much in demand for carrying up food,

clothing, equipment and scientific experiments. NASA is

working to collect and recycle as much water as possible to

save space and reduce costs.

"The water recovery system on the Space Station will be

similar to a water treatment plant on Earth. The process has

to be different on the Station in order to operate in the

weightlessness of space and to fit in the area of about two

phone booths," Hutchens said.

The experiment is part of a NASA effort to reduce technical

risk between the design of flight hardware and actual

installation aboard the Space Station, Hutchens said. The

vapor compression distillation process mechanically mimics

Earth's natural process of evaporation. Instead of heating

water with the power of the sun, however, these systems boil

wastewater to produce and collect water vapor that is 97

percent free of minerals, chemicals and microbes.

The experiment is designed to verify the recycling concept

in microgravity, the low-gravity environment created as a

spacecraft orbits the Earth. For the experiment, de-ionized

water containing some salts was used instead of urine.

The experiment occupies a refrigerator-sized rack in the

SPACE HAB module in the Shuttle payload bay for the STS-107

mission. Experiments will test the system under a series of

normal and abnormal operating scenarios. The Shuttle crew

activated the experiment, but it is primarily automated. The

experiment team monitors operations and receives data in a

control room at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Part of the Station's water processing system was tested on

a KC-135 aircraft in 2002 that simulates microgravity

conditions.

"When this technology is installed aboard the Space Station,

it will be able to process about 4,400 pounds (2,000 kg) of

waste water annually to support the crew, and decrease the

water requirements on resupply missions," Hutchens said.

"Beyond that, further human exploration of space will

require water recycling technology. And it may even have

applications on Earth, where many people don't have ready

access to a clean water supply," she said.

For more information about the STS-107 mission:

www.spaceflight.nasa.gov

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