. 24/7 Space News .
SPACE TRAVEL
Innovative solutions to more reliably recycle space station wastewater
by Janet Anderson for MSFC News
Huntsville AL (SPX) Oct 09, 2020

illustration only

Fine-tuning hardware technology to increase durability and minimize the need for replacements is a driving factor for Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) engineers supporting air and water recycling on the International Space Station.

"As we travel farther from Earth on Artemis missions to the Moon and build toward longer, crewed missions to Mars, it's inevitable we'll need more reliable hardware and a reduced requirement for spares," said Arthur Brown, deputy manager of ECLSS integration and development at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. "Even from the space station, it's a long way to the nearest hardware store or machine shop."

Case in point: The newly upgraded distillation system for the space station's urine processor assembly - flown to the station in March and installed in September - challenged Marshall's ECLSS team to take a fresh look at an old problem, and apply a state-of-the-art solution.

"The distillation assembly is the heart of the Urine Processor Assembly," Brown said. "It's the core of the machinery that converts human urine into clean drinking water."

Urine is boiled in the distillation assembly and delivered to the water processor, where it undergoes a cycle of filtration and chemical purification until it is usable by the crew - reducing costs associated with launching heavy water shipments to the station from Earth.

Developed for NASA in the 1990s and refined continuously ever since the space station began to house rotating crews 20 years ago, urine and wastewater recycling technologies used on the station typically do a better job cleaning, filtering, and delivering potable water than many large commercial systems employed on Earth.

But engineers found the station's system suffered an issue common to many machines - deteriorating belts. Belt drives typically transmit motion from one internal hardware element to another, mechanically linking rotating parts to drive gears or wheels. They require tension, correct contact, and proper maintenance to function.

Even with the right upkeep, belts wear out - especially when exposed to the steam from the urine distillation assembly accelerating the process.

"Our challenge was to deliver a new design that could bypass the belt stretching issue," Brown said. "The Urine Processor Assembly team partnered with engineers in Marshall's Materials and Processes laboratory to explore 3D printing options to develop prototype design solutions and dramatically shorten design cycles."

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, uses composite materials, built up layer by layer, to create sophisticated, durable parts and hardware. NASA is pursuing the technology to provide long-term space missions with their own 3D print-on-demand "machine shops," enabling future exploration crews to build reliable parts and tools without waiting for weeks or months for shipments from Earth.

Marshall engineering teams determined they could 3D print a plastic-toothed drive pulley, and they delivered near-flight-quality prototypes in less than two weeks. From there, they expanded the system upgrades to include a variety of internal part redesigns, all to better mitigate the impact of the hardware's steam and fluid environment, extend its service life, and continue to reliably provide the crew with life-sustaining potable water.

Previously, the distillation assembly could see parts failures after approximately 1,400 hours of service. With the upgrades included in the latest iteration, engineers anticipate a service life of more than 4,300 hours without parts replacement. The distillation assembly, which helps the crew recycle 90 percent of the water they need on station, is only operated for a few hours each day, so those anticipated lifetime hours can stretch into years.

"Our first goal is always to increase reliability. If hardware doesn't break, that's a problem solved," Brown said. "But we're also working to enable on-orbit maintenance by replacing component parts - from sensors to vacuum pumps - instead of taking out whole mechanisms and flying up brand new ones. In future systems, everything internal is designed to be individually replaceable by the crew."

Building on two decades of experience and technical know-how gained at the space station, NASA's Artemis program will land the first woman and next man on the Moon by 2024 and prepare to extend humanity's reach farther into the solar system. To learn more about space station hardware and life support systems, visit:


Related Links
Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS)
Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News


Thanks for being there;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5+ Billed Monthly


paypal only
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal


SPACE TRAVEL
Russian Cosmonauts to test new system extracting water from urine on ISS
Moscow (Sputnik) Oct 05, 2020
The urine-reclaming system helps decrease the amount of water that needs to be shipped to the ISS via cargo spacecraft. Russian cosmonauts on board of the International Space Station are getting ready to test the effectiveness of a new experimental water recycling system. The new piece of equipment, designated SRV-U-RS and installed in the Rassvet module of the station, allows extracting water from humane urine, to be used for drinking. As Russian cosmonaut Ivan Vagner explained on Twi ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

SPACE TRAVEL
Simulated satellite rendezvous at ESA

ISS crew analyses dust movement to locate air leak in Russian Module

From Thales to space

Chief Engineer, Deborah Crane Talks Commercial Crew Launch

SPACE TRAVEL
Testing a fiery reentry at DLR

ISRO plans to launch new rocket before Dec 2020

Georgia Southern University Shows Massive Tourism Boom for Spaceport Camden

NASA runs eight-part core stage Green Run Test for SLS

SPACE TRAVEL
Mars at its biggest and brightest until 2035

Preserved dune fields offer insights into Martian history

The way forward to Mars

AI helps scientists discover fresh craters on Mars

SPACE TRAVEL
Eighteen new astronauts chosen for China's space station mission

NASA chief warns Congress about Chinese space station

China's new carrier rocket available for public view

China sends nine satellites into orbit by sea launch

SPACE TRAVEL
Corrective measures needed from satellite "mega-constellation" operators

First space census launches today

Clean and greener tennis using space technology

Despite pandemic-related setbacks, the NewSpace industry has new players enter the field

SPACE TRAVEL
Satellite Industry Association releases space traffic management recommendations and white paper

Kongsberg awarded contract for mobile communication satellite

On the trail of causes of radiation events during space flight

Ultrasensitive microwave detector developed

SPACE TRAVEL
Some planets may be better for life than Earth

Searching for the chemistry of life

New research explores how super flares affect planets' habitability

First direct observation of exoplanet Beta Pictoris c

SPACE TRAVEL
Arrokoth: Flattening of a snowman

SwRI study describes discovery of close binary trans-Neptunian object

JPL meets unique challenge, delivers radar hardware for Jupiter Mission

Astronomers characterize Uranian moons using new imaging analysis









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.