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Whereas suited up in house, astronauts at present relieve themselves into what’s referred to as a most absorbency garment, which is actually a multilayered diaper containing a super-absorbent polymer (SN: 3/11/11). The garment is thought to be uncomfortable, leak and trigger urinary tract infections.
Present spacesuit designs additionally incorporate an in-suit consuming bag, or IDB, that carries lower than a liter of water. Astronauts can generally go for eight- to 12-hour spacewalks, which regularly consists of huge quantities of bodily exertion, Etlin says. NASA’s future Artemis missions on the moon will most likely see explorers spending at the least as a lot time or longer on the lunar floor, although present plans have them carrying IDBs of the identical measurement, she says (SN: 12/1/22).
Etlin and her colleagues designed and constructed a brand new sort of undergarment with a set cup that goes over an astronaut’s personal elements. Urine is routed right into a filtration system that first removes salty water from the urine after which makes use of a pump to take the salt out from that water. The filtered water is enriched with electrolytes after which despatched into the IDB.
A fictional Fremen’s stillsuit is powered by physique motion, however astronauts should carry a 20.5-volt battery as a part of this new design. The overall system, together with pumps, sensors and show display, weighs round 8 kilograms and might purify half a liter of water in 5 minutes.
Sweat — which fictional stillsuits additionally gather — could be simpler to filter than urine, Etlin says. However she and her colleagues determined to concentrate on a single waste product for his or her first prototype. “One step at a time,” she says.
The workforce hopes to additional take a look at its system throughout simulated moon and Mars missions right here on Earth and finally throughout actual spacewalks.
It “could be superb for us,” says Julio Rezende of the Federal College of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal, Brazil, who leads Habitat Marte, a Mars analog mission in Brazil. “I imagine this expertise would carry loads of advantages.”
Rezende sees potential terrestrial spin-offs, too, corresponding to the same system that could possibly be used for firefighters combating forest fires or hikers on lengthy trails.
