Researchers have created a prototype spacesuit capable of recycling urine into drinking water.
Inspired by the “stillsuits” in the sci-fi classic Dune, the unique design could enable astronauts to partake in lengthier spacewalks on the moon during the upcoming Artemis missions.
“The design includes a vacuum-based external catheter leading to a combined forward-reverse osmosis unit, providing a continuous supply of potable water with multiple safety mechanisms to ensure astronaut wellbeing,” Sofia Etlin, a research staff member at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University, and the study’s first author, said in the scientific journal Frontiers.
The longest time that astronauts currently spend away from bathroom facilities is around seven hours straight during spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS). The bulky spacesuits worn for such activities contain an absorbency garment — a kind of multi-layered diaper — should nature call while the astronaut is working outside the station. But the garments are uncomfortable and can cause hygiene problems.
“The MAG [maximum absorbency garment] has reportedly leaked and caused health issues such as urinary tract infections and gastrointestinal distress,” Etlin said, adding that the current suits contain in-suit drink bags capable of holding a liter of water, an amount insufficient for lunar walkabouts that could last as long as 10 hours.
The prototype suit includes an undergarment made of multiple layers of flexible fabric, which connects to a collection cup with a different shape and size for women and men. The urine is diverted to a battery-powered urine filtration system contained inside a backpack. Here, it gets recycled with an efficiency of 87% through a two-step osmosis filtration system. The purified water is enriched in electrolytes and pumped into the in-suit drink bag, with the collection and purification of 500 milliliters of urine taking a mere five minutes.
The newly designed suit is ready to be tested under simulated conditions before being trialed in actual spacewalks.
Astronauts aboard the ISS already drink water recycled from urine so transferring the technology to a spacesuit makes perfect sense.
NASA is planning to land two astronauts on the moon in 2026 as part of the highly anticipated Artemis III mission. Later, the space agency hopes to build a permanent base on the moon from which astronauts will be able to go on extended expeditions, and it’s these missions across the lunar surface in which the new spacesuit would prove particularly useful.