Dune-Inspired Spacesuit Recycles Urine Into Clean Drinking Water

Cornell University scientists are looking to marque 1 of the little chill but inactive applicable parts of Dune a reality. In a caller survey this week, the squad debuted a plan for a spacesuit that recycles urine into drinkable water, overmuch similar the stillsuits worn by the Fremen of Arrakis. The suit should let astronauts to transportation retired longer spacewalks, among different benefits, and the scientists are hoping it could spot its debut successful clip for the upcoming missions to the Moon and Mars.

During abstraction missions, we already routinely recycle our body’s liquid discarded backmost into cleanable drinking water. Last year, for instance, NASA announced that astronauts aboard the International Space Station are present recycling 98% of their urine and sweat, up from the 93% antecedently achieved. Gross arsenic it sounds, this reusing extends the constricted resources disposable to a crew.

Currently, though, astronauts can’t bash the aforesaid erstwhile they’re actively retired successful their spacesuits. If they person to spell during a spacewalk, they simply usage modified diapers, which bash assistance prolong missions but travel with immoderate hassles. The diaper tin sometimes leak, for instance, making it uncomfortable for astronauts to deterioration and this vulnerability to discarded tin adjacent rise the likelihood of complications similar an urinary tract infection. Astronauts tin chopped down connected their urine by not drinking overmuch h2o earlier a spacewalk, but that itself tin beryllium unsafe and limits however agelong a spacewalk tin beryllium safely performed. 

From sci-fi to reality

Directly inspired by the enactment of Dune writer Frank Herbert, scientists astatine Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University designed a spacesuit to flooded these challenges. They’ve already created a prototype of the suit and person elaborate its interior workings successful a insubstantial published Thursday successful the diary Frontiers successful Space Technology.

A side-view illustration of the filtration system, which is worn arsenic a backpack. © Karen Morales

“The plan includes a vacuum-based outer catheter starring to a combined forward-reverse osmosis unit, providing a continuous proviso of potable h2o with aggregate information mechanisms to guarantee astronaut wellbeing,” said pb writer Sofia Etlin, a probe unit subordinate astatine Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University, successful a statement from Frontiers, publishers of the journal.

The portable strategy tin filter retired 500 milliliters of urine successful astir 5 minutes, with antithetic postulation methods for women and men. Right now, it isn’t rather arsenic businesslike arsenic the larger systems aboard the ISS, with a recycling complaint of 87%. But that should beryllium capable to assistance astronauts prolong their spacewalks with much comfort.

A request for amended spacesuits

NASA expects to nonstop astronauts backmost to the Moon successful the adjacent fewer years, with a crewed Moon landing—the Artemis 2 mission—expected aboriginal this decade. NASA is besides hoping to assistance successfully nonstop radical to Mars arsenic aboriginal arsenic the 2030s, with immoderate related missions connected Earth already underway. The Cornell squad believes that their suit could beryllium invaluable to these goals and reason that it could beryllium acceptable to spell by the clip the Artemis missions are disconnected the ground. Engineers volition person to survey the suit successful much item earlier considering it space-worthy, however.

“Our strategy tin beryllium tested successful simulated microgravity conditions, arsenic microgravity is the superior abstraction origin we indispensable relationship for. These tests volition guarantee the system’s functionality and information earlier it is deployed successful existent abstraction missions,” said elder writer Christopher Mason, a prof of physiology and biophysics astatine Weill Cornell, successful a statement.

A spacesuit that recycles urine into drinkable is h2o nifty and all, but would it termination scientists to invent a mode for my encephalon to rapidly cipher analyzable mathematics equations (like a radical dinner’s bill), à la the Mentats?