A sci-fi-inspired spacesuit that recycles urine into drinking water could enable astronauts to perform long spacewalks on upcoming lunar expeditions.
The prototype, modeled on the “silent suits” in the sci-fi classic Dune, collects urine, purifies it and can return it to the astronaut through a drinking tube within five minutes.
The suit’s creators hope it can be deployed before the end of the decade in Nasa’s Artemis program, which is focused on learning how to live and work on another world for long periods of time.
“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 well-being,” said Sofia Etlin, a researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University and co-designer of the suit.
Nasa is preparing for the Artemis III mission in 2026, which aims to land a crew on the lunar south pole, with a stated ambition to launch manned missions to Mars by the 2030s. Urine and sweat already regularly recovered on the International Space Station (ISS), but Etlin says an equivalent system is needed for when astronauts are on expedition.
“Astronauts currently only have one liter of water available in their packable drink bags,” Etlin said. “This is insufficient for the planned longer-duration lunar spacewalks, which could last 10 hours, and even up to 24 hours in an emergency.”
There are also longstanding complaints about the current waste management solution, the so-called maximum absorbent garment (MAG), which is essentially an adult diaper.
The garments are said to be leak-prone, uncomfortable and unsanitary, prompting some astronauts to limit food and drink intake before spacewalks and others to complain of urinary tract infections (UTIs).
“If you give Nasa billions of dollars, you’d think they wouldn’t hold the diaper,” said Etlin, who surveyed astronauts as they examined the new design.
“It is common for the MAG to leak,” she added. “The astronauts talk about how at a certain point they can no longer tell if it is urine or sweat. They’re like, ‘Yeah, I’m an astronaut and this is a burden I have to carry.’
Future commercial astronauts might be less inclined to take such a stoic view, she suggested.
Prof Christopher Mason, of Weill Cornell Medicine, the study’s senior author, said: “Even in the absence of a large desert planet, as in Dune, this is something that could be better for astronauts.”
The proposed stillpack system consists of a collection cup molded silicone to fit around the genitals, with a different shape and size for women and men. It is contained in an undergarment made of multiple layers of flexible material.
The silicon cup connects to a moisture-activated vacuum pump that automatically turns on as soon as the astronaut begins to urinate. Once collected, the urine is redirected to the filtration system where it is recycled into water with an efficiency of 87%. The system uses an osmosis system to remove water from urine, plus a pump to separate water from salt.
It only takes five minutes to collect and purify 500 ml of urine. During deployment, the purified water could be enriched with electrolytes and returned to the astronaut as an energy drink.
The system measures 38 cm by 23 cm by 23 cm, with a weight of about 8 kg, which has been judged to be sufficiently compact and light to be carried on the back of a space suit. The team plans to recruit 100 volunteers in New York in the fall to test the system for comfort and functionality.
“Our system can be tested in simulated microgravity conditions, since microgravity is the primary space factor we have to account for,” Mason said. “These tests will ensure the system’s functionality and safety before it is deployed in actual space missions.”
Details of the prototype are published in the journal Frontiers in Space Technology.
