Space Shuttle Astronaut To Test NASA's 'Forward Osmosis Bag' Urine Recycling System

Nope, it's not Tang.

One of the NASA astronauts on board Space Shuttle Atlantis, which launched Friday, will test a new urine recycling system that may be implemented on the International Space Station in the future.

This "Forward Osmosis Bag" (FOB) system is a portable drinking pouch that converts human wastewater into consumable water by filtering toxins through a semi-permeable membrane and a concentrated sugar solution.

While the urine recycling machine on board the International Space Station must draw power from the craft in order to run, this baggie system will not.

"This could be a first step toward recapturing the humidity from our sweat, from our breath, even from our urine, and recycling it and making it drinkable," said NASA project scientist and experiment leader Howard Levine, according to Wired.

Here's how it works: wastewater fills the bag and passively transfers through an inner layer, which contains the sugar solution; toxins are left behind as the liquid passes from the outer layer to the inner and the wastewater becomes safe to drink. However, Wired notes, the system hasn't been perfected yet, and certain toxins can still get through the filters. These toxins can build up in the kidneys over time, making the FOB practical only for short journeys.

The Atlantis astronaut who will test the filtration system won't be using wastewater, though, and will instead use a "potassium-rich solution" to test the baggie during the shuttle's 12-day mission at the International Space Station.

Check out a photo of the Forward Osmosis Bag (below).

LOOK: [via NASA]

Comments

[rcmfla]

12:23 AM on 07/11/2011

Piss Drinker's UNITE! ... in space 8P

[YoBear]

11:37 PM on 07/10/2011

Bear Grylls had something to do with this, I just know it.

[b1llymo]

11:08 PM on 07/10/2011

Tastes like chicken...broth

[ellwood145]

05:23 PM on 07/10/2011

You can sweeten it with 1 lump or 2 i still ain't drinking it. Do they have beer in the spacestation? LOL

[jsarets]

07:09 AM on 07/11/2011

The Russians get vodka for special occasions.

[milcah marcelo]

02:46 PM on 07/10/2011

Considering how I've read interviews given by socialites and showgirls declaring that they drink their own urine (unprocessed) I find this news merely comforting.

[SilentSolidarity]

02:36 PM on 07/10/2011

LOL. What do you guys think? Do you think they actually send a rocket full of water up there. You have to recycle all bodily fluids if you want to live in space. And people make a bigger deal out of this than it is.

They filter the heck out of the stuff. The end product is cleaner than your bottled water. You gotta do what you gotta do.

[quillsinister]

02:35 PM on 07/10/2011

One step closer to the stillsuit.

Now where did I leave my crysknife?

[Lesley A Smith]

03:07 PM on 07/09/2011

DUNE!!

[The Platzner Post]

06:57 AM on 07/09/2011

Yummy!!! : )

[burtongrl]

12:07 AM on 07/10/2011

Haha, reminded me of the part in Ace Ventura! Fanned :)

[rayinprague]

06:03 AM on 07/09/2011

This could become useful on earth, as drinkable water is getting scarce in many areas due to climate change. In natural disasters, getting drinkable water to remote areas is a big problem as well and leads to disease outbreaks. These packs and some recycling could help until supply lines are set up.

[Eric LT]

03:19 AM on 07/09/2011

look, nasa's way behind on this. i've been drinking urine out of bags for years.

[born 2b different]

01:24 PM on 07/10/2011

Funny!

[BudMax77]

12:57 AM on 07/09/2011

When you stop and think about it, we are all drinking Dinosauer piss recycled even today! Are you kidneying me? Picture Captain Kirk drinking a Mai Tai served by Sulu! UggaUggaPoo!

[Shawn Wolfe]

12:48 AM on 07/09/2011

Don't you go where the huskies go....

[Gon Kyouka]

12:27 AM on 07/09/2011

wow a drinkable urine an eat-able poop..

[Jim Fay]

12:20 AM on 07/09/2011

In space, gold is valueless. Water is priceless. It reminds me of a scene in the book Dune. Where the dwellers from the desert can't understand the act of crying in grief. "She gives tears to the dead" says one character. From his perspective, tears are priceless and recycled.

[quillsinister]

02:43 PM on 07/10/2011

Gold has all kinds of value in space. Radiation and heat shielding, corrosion protection, even as a lubricant. Perhaps you meant to say that money has no value in space, and there I would agree with the caveat that you'd better have money when you're building your equipment and outfitting the mission.

Still, I agree about the preciousness of water. We'll soon learn to stop taking it for granted, and it will be a painful process with a potentially high body count.