William Atkins
Thursday, 21 May 2009 19:08
Opinion and Analysis
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The International Space Station Expedition 19 astronauts joined in with NASA mission controllers back on Earth for several toasts of the Station’s new Water Recovery System. Although you might not think this is a big deal, it foretells a major milestone in being able to extend manned missions from days to years.
According to the NASA media release, “
NASA gives Space Station crew “GO” to drink recycled water,” on Wednesday, May 20, 2009 Expedition 19 commander Gennady Padalka and flight engineers Mike Barratt and Koichi Wakata celebrated the new recycled water system in the Destiny laboratory onboard the ISS.
They were joined in the celebration with mission controllers here on Earth, at least 190 miles (345 kilometers) away at their closest point from the Station.
The purified water system has been analyzed and tested numerous times since the Water Recovery System was delivered by the crew of the space shuttle
Endeavour (mission: STS-126) back in November 2008.
After STS-126 mission specialist Don Pettit and ISS
Expedition 18 commander Mike Fincke installed the equipment, the system has been processing all the water, including urine and moisture in the air, onboard the Station.
In fact, several samples have been returned to Earth from the Station for analysis. NASA reports that 5.28 gallons (about 20 liters) were tested for purity at the Water and Microbiology Laboratories at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Clear Lake City, a suburb of Houston, Texas.
Based on these tests, members of the Space Station Program Control Board approved, on April 27, 2009, the water to be
“safe and healthy to drink.”
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