New tech that converts urine to water could finally ditch astronaut diapers

Astronauts use two types of suits. There’s the flight suit they use during launch and entry. And then there’s the more familiar giant, puffy white space suits used during spacewalks. Both of these high-tech suits come equipped with what NASA calls maximum absorbency garments (MAG’s), or what you or I would recognize as diapers. This is a necessary precaution since astronauts can sometimes spend over eight hours in a space mission before they can access a toilet at the base.

Suffice it to say, having a wet diaper strapped to their derrière doesn’t sound like the pinnacle of engineering, nor is it pleasant. This may soon finally change.

“The MAG has reportedly leaked and caused health issues such as urinary tract infections and gastrointestinal distress. Additionally, astronauts currently have only one liter of water available in their in-suit drink bags. This is insufficient for the planned, longer-lasting lunar spacewalks, which can last ten hours, and even up to 24 hours in an emergency,” said Sofia Etlin, a research staff member at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University, and the study’s first author.

Scientists have proposed a new backpack-style, lightweight system that safely collects waste fluids and purifies the urine to convert it into drinking water. The system can purify a liter of water from urine in just five minutes.

Astronauts would wear an undergarment made from a flexible compression material lined with antimicrobial fabric. A humidity sensor within a silicone cup beneath the wearer’s genitalia detects urine, activating a vacuum pump. This pump draws the urine into a filtration device carried on the astronaut’s back, which measures about 15 inches tall and 9 inches wide.

Within the 17.6-pound filtration device, urine transforms into fresh water that can be delivered into the spacesuit’s drink bag. This system is still in its initial testing stage but results so far have been promising. The device safely balances salt levels and removes the major components of urine that currently cause problems like rashes, digestive stress, and even urine tract infections.

If successful, the device could be a game-changer for astronauts, especially with NASA’s plans to establish a permanent outpost on the moon by the end of the decade. During such challenging missions, astronauts would be expected to spend many hours in their spacesuits helping to set up the base.

This system still needs a lot of tweaking before it ships. Current prototypes are too bulky and need more powerful than NASA’s spacesuits can accommodate. NASA will also need time to test these systems more thoroughly with actual humans under space-like conditions that simulate microgravity.

“Our system can be tested in simulated microgravity conditions, as microgravity is the primary space factor we must account for. These tests will ensure the system’s functionality and safety before it is deployed in actual space missions,” concluded Dr Christopher E Mason, a professor at the same institute as Etlin and the study’s lead author.

The findings appeared in Frontiers in Space Technologies.