Astronauts To Drink Purified Urine
Robert Paul Reyes
November 14, 2008
"As NASA prepares to double the number of astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, nothing may do more for crew bonding than a machine being launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday.
It's a water-recycling device that will process the crew's urine for communal consumption.
We did blind taste tests of the water,' said NASA's Bob Bagdigian, the system's lead engineer. 'Nobody had any strong objections. Other than a faint taste of iodine, it is just as refreshing as any other kind of water.'"
Reuters/Irene Klotz
As a youngster I consumed gallons of Tang, an orange flavored non-carbonated soft drink. Tang tasted like sweetened sewer water, but we greedily gulped it because it was marketed as the drink that astronauts consumed in space.
But I don' think there will ever be a market for bottled water made from recycled urine, even if it's marketed as what the astronauts in the International Space Station drink.
It's understandable that astronauts don't have the luxury of drinking a nice refreshing Coke or a thirst quenching lemonade, but it's cruel and unusual punishment to expect them to drink their own urine.
I no longer envy astronauts, drinking your own bodily fluids takes away the glamour of space flight. Drinking Tang was bad enough, but drinking..., thanks, but no thanks.
It's a water-recycling device that will process the crew's urine for communal consumption.
We did blind taste tests of the water,' said NASA's Bob Bagdigian, the system's lead engineer. 'Nobody had any strong objections. Other than a faint taste of iodine, it is just as refreshing as any other kind of water.'"
Reuters/Irene Klotz
As a youngster I consumed gallons of Tang, an orange flavored non-carbonated soft drink. Tang tasted like sweetened sewer water, but we greedily gulped it because it was marketed as the drink that astronauts consumed in space.
But I don' think there will ever be a market for bottled water made from recycled urine, even if it's marketed as what the astronauts in the International Space Station drink.
It's understandable that astronauts don't have the luxury of drinking a nice refreshing Coke or a thirst quenching lemonade, but it's cruel and unusual punishment to expect them to drink their own urine.
I no longer envy astronauts, drinking your own bodily fluids takes away the glamour of space flight. Drinking Tang was bad enough, but drinking..., thanks, but no thanks.
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