Passion and Pee Water

Oh, i know you are intrigued with the title of this post!

I've added a few new blog links to the page. A couple of my friends have joined the blogosphere.

But the one blog i wanted to point out is Wayne Hale's NASA Blog. I can't really say that Wayne is a friend of mine for i have never met him. I've been in meetings with him though...does that count? no...i suppose not.

Wayne has a wonderful way of expressing his passion for space exploration. And his words are unmatched by others. Those that are truly passionate about space exploration will definitely be excited about his words. Take some time...read the blog...and get a sense of the passion Wayne has. It is a passion that i share.

Now on to the pee water. As you may have heard in the news lately, the ISS just received a new water recycling system. This new system is takes urine and converts it to drinkable water. This system is will eventually be used in long duration space flights to the moon and mars. Water is a valuable commodity and not easily transported to the station or other spacecraft. So, everything needs to be recycled. And yes, this includes pee.

Yesterday i sampled some water that was once pee. This sample came from the system being used on orbit during its testing phase on the ground. The water wasn't quite bottled water quality. It did have a slight iodine taste to it...but not enough to make the water undrinkable. In fact, i've had tap water that has tasted worse. So, the system seems to work pretty well. Now if we could keep this system working on orbit. Right now it seems to be working. Test samples will be returned on earth for testing before we'll give the go astronauts the go to start consuming that water.

Passion and Pee...