(Credit: Nasa.gov)

Urine Causes Problems For NASA

Updated: Friday, 15 Jan 2010, 8:27 AM PST
Published : Friday, 15 Jan 2010, 8:25 AM PST

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - In November 2008, NASA revealed a new invention that allows astronauts at the International Space Station to drink their own urine. A good idea, until problems started to arise.

NASA’s water recycling system has presented some problems for its engineers, according to a recent Reuters report . High concentrations of calcium in the astronauts’ urine seem to be clogging the system. Scientists can’t figure out if this is a result of living in space or something else.

Station flight director David Korth said, “We've learned a lot more about urine than we ever needed or wanted to know -- some of us anyway."

NASA explains the system works by distilling water from the urine and then going through six steps to cleanse it. The machine is also able to suck in astronauts’ sweat and breath and clean that too.

Due to the heavy weight of carrying water into orbit, the system will end up being extremely helpful in space, reports USA Today . Marybeth Edeen of NASA’s Johnson Space Center said it would be impossible to ship enough water to the station when its residents go from three to six next year. This $250 million machine solves that problem -- once NASA can solve the urine problem.

But one question remains: “How does it taste?” Tom McNichol of Wired.com put the urine-turned-water to the test and claims it tastes better than most city tap water. And Edeen believes once a person gets over the psychological issue, it won’t be a problem. “It’s not urine anymore, it’s water,” she says.

The shuttle Endeavor is scheduled to fly to the International Space Station Feb. 7 for a construction mission. NASA is hoping to resolve their urine problem by then to send replacement parts up to fix it.