Real-life ‘stillsuit’: Dune-inspired upgrade for spacesuits allow astronauts to recycle urine into water

Astronauts on spacewalks famously have to alleviate themselves inside their spacesuits. Not solely is that this uncomfortable for the wearer and unhygienic, it is usually wasteful, as—not like wastewater on board the Worldwide House Station (ISS)—the water in urine from spacewalks will not be recycled.

An answer for these challenges can be full-body ‘stillsuits’ like these within the blockbuster Dune franchise, which absorbed and purified water misplaced by way of sweating and urination, and recycled it into drinkable water. Now, this sci-fi is about to turn out to be actuality, with a prototype novel urine assortment and filtration system for spacesuits.

The design, by researchers from Cornell College, is revealed in Frontiers in Space Technology.

“The design features a vacuum-based exterior catheter resulting in a mixed forward-reverse osmosis unit, offering a steady provide of potable water with a number of security mechanisms to make sure astronaut well-being,” mentioned Sofia Etlin, a analysis employees member at Weill Cornell Medication and Cornell College, and the research’s first creator.

Designed for upcoming moon and Mars missions

In 2025 and 2026, NASA is planning for the Artemis II and III missions, the place a crew will orbit the moon and land on its south pole, respectively. These missions are anticipated to be adopted by crewed missions to Mars by the early 2030s.

Nevertheless, astronauts have lengthy complained a couple of lack of consolation and hygiene of the prevailing most absorbency garment (MAG)—the waste administration system of conventional NASA spacesuits –in use because the late Seventies—which features like a multi-layered grownup diaper fabricated from superabsorbent polymer.

“The MAG has reportedly leaked and induced well being points akin to urinary tract infections and gastrointestinal misery. Moreover, astronauts at present have just one liter of water out there of their in-suit drink luggage. That is inadequate for the deliberate, longer-lasting lunar spacewalks, which might final ten hours, and even as much as 24 hours in an emergency,” mentioned Etlin.

Astronauts have additionally requested that the time wanted to fill and de-gas the in-suit drink luggage be decreased in future spacesuits, and {that a} separate provide of non-caffeinated high-energy drink be added.

With all these aims in thoughts, Etlin and colleagues have now designed a urine assortment machine, together with an undergarment fabricated from a number of layers of versatile material. This connects to a group cup (with a distinct form and measurement for ladies and men) of molded silicone, to suit across the genitalia.

The interior face of the gathering cup is lined with polyester microfiber or a nylon-spandex mix, to attract urine away from the physique and in the direction of the interior cup’s interior face, from the place it’s sucked by a vacuum pump. A RFID tag, linked to an absorbent hydrogel, reacts to moisture by activating the pump.

Excessive-tech backpack

As soon as collected, the urine is diverted to the urine filtration system, the place it will get recycled with an effectivity of 87% by way of a two-step, built-in ahead and reverse osmosis filtration system. This makes use of a concentration gradient to take away water from urine, plus a pump to separate water from salt.

The purified water is then enriched in electrolytes and pumped into the in-suit drink bag, once more out there for consumption. Gathering and purifying 500ml of urine takes solely 5 minutes.

The system, which integrates management pumps, sensors, and a liquid-crystal show display, is powered by a 20.5V battery with a capability of 40 amp-hours. Its total measurement is 38 by 23 by 23 cm, with a weight of roughly eight kilograms: sufficiently compact and light-weight to be carried on the again of a spacesuit.

Now that the prototype is offered, the brand new design may be examined beneath simulated situations, and subsequently throughout actual spacewalks.

“Our system may be examined in simulated microgravity situations, as microgravity is the first space issue we should account for. These assessments will make sure the system’s performance and security earlier than it’s deployed in precise space missions,” concluded Dr. Christopher E Mason, a professor on the similar institute as Etlin and the research’s lead creator.