Astronauts aboard the space station celebrated a space first on Wednesday by drinking water that had been recycled from their urine, sweat and water that condenses from exhaled air. They said "cheers," clicked drinking bags and toasted NASA workers on the ground who were sipping their own version of recycled drinking water.
"The taste is great," American astronaut Michael Barratt said. Then as Russian Gennady Padalka tried to catch little bubbles of the clear water floating in front of him, Barratt called the taste "worth chasing."
He said the water came with labels that said: "drink this when real water is over 200 miles away."
The urine recycling system is needed for astronaut outposts on the moon and Mars. It also will save NASA money because it won't have to ship up as much water to the station by space shuttle or cargo rockets.
It's also crucial as the space station is about to expand from three people living on board to six.
The recycling system had been brought up to the space station last November by space shuttle Endeavour, but it couldn't be used until samples were tested back on Earth.
The three-man crew stood holding their drinks and congratulated engineers in two NASA centers that worked on the system.
"This is something that had been the stuff of science fiction," Barratt said before taking a sip.
NASA deputy space shuttle manager LeRoy Cain called it "a huge milestone."
The new system takes the combined urine of the crew from the toilet, moves it to a big tank, where the water is boiled off, and the vapor collected. The rest of contaminants is thrown away, said Marybeth Edeen, the space station's national lab manager who was in charge of the system.
The water vapor is mixed with water from air condensation, then it goes through filters. When six crew members are aboard it can make about six gallons from urine in about six hours.
The technology NASA developed for this system has already been used for quick water purification after the 2004 Asian tsunami, Edeen said.
"We are happy to have this water work through the system — we're happy to have it work through our systems," Barratt said.
國(guó)際空間站的宇航員于本周三慶祝他們喝上了利用尿液、汗液以及蒸汽制出的水，這是太空的一大創(chuàng)舉。他們用飲水袋碰杯慶祝，高喊“干杯”，與也在飲用循環(huán)水的美國(guó)宇航局地面工作人員舉杯共慶。
美國(guó)宇航員邁克爾•巴拉特說(shuō)：“味道好極了，值得品嘗”。當(dāng)時(shí)俄羅斯宇航員杰納迪•帕達(dá)爾卡正試圖抓住在他面前漂浮的循環(huán)水小氣泡。
他開(kāi)玩笑道，水的商標(biāo)應(yīng)該這樣寫：“當(dāng)真正的水遠(yuǎn)在200多英里之外時(shí)，就請(qǐng)享用它吧。”
對(duì)身處月球和火星“前哨”的宇航員來(lái)說(shuō)，研制尿液循環(huán)水系統(tǒng)很有必要。這還將為美國(guó)宇航局節(jié)省經(jīng)費(fèi)，因?yàn)樗麄儾辉傩枰獙ｉT發(fā)射航天飛機(jī)或者運(yùn)載火箭給空間站運(yùn)送那么多水了。
這對(duì)常駐空間站的宇航員將來(lái)從三人擴(kuò)充至六人也至關(guān)重要。
這種循環(huán)水系統(tǒng)是去年11月由奮進(jìn)號(hào)航天飛機(jī)運(yùn)至空間站的，但直到水樣返回地面并經(jīng)過(guò)檢測(cè)，循環(huán)水才可以飲用。
三位宇航員手持水杯，向美國(guó)宇航局參與研制循環(huán)水系統(tǒng)的兩個(gè)工程師表示祝賀。
巴拉特在喝循環(huán)水之前說(shuō)：“就像以前科幻小說(shuō)里描寫的一樣?！?BR> 美國(guó)宇航局航天飛機(jī)事務(wù)副主管勒羅伊•凱恩稱之為“一個(gè)重要的里程碑”。
負(fù)責(zé)研制該系統(tǒng)的空間站國(guó)家試驗(yàn)室主管瑪麗貝斯•艾丁稱，新系統(tǒng)收集衛(wèi)生間的尿液，把它們裝進(jìn)一個(gè)大水桶里加熱，蒸汽被收集起來(lái)，而廢物則被丟掉。
尿液中的蒸汽和空氣中凝結(jié)出的水蒸汽一起被過(guò)濾。當(dāng)空間站里有六名宇航員時(shí)，在六小時(shí)內(nèi)可制出約六加侖水。
艾丁稱，在2004年亞洲海嘯發(fā)生后，美國(guó)宇航局研制的該技術(shù)已被應(yīng)用于快速水凈化。
巴拉特說(shuō)：“我們很高興可以喝上系統(tǒng)制出的循環(huán)水，系統(tǒng)成功運(yùn)行真是太令人興奮了?！?BR>
"The taste is great," American astronaut Michael Barratt said. Then as Russian Gennady Padalka tried to catch little bubbles of the clear water floating in front of him, Barratt called the taste "worth chasing."
He said the water came with labels that said: "drink this when real water is over 200 miles away."
The urine recycling system is needed for astronaut outposts on the moon and Mars. It also will save NASA money because it won't have to ship up as much water to the station by space shuttle or cargo rockets.
It's also crucial as the space station is about to expand from three people living on board to six.
The recycling system had been brought up to the space station last November by space shuttle Endeavour, but it couldn't be used until samples were tested back on Earth.
The three-man crew stood holding their drinks and congratulated engineers in two NASA centers that worked on the system.
"This is something that had been the stuff of science fiction," Barratt said before taking a sip.
NASA deputy space shuttle manager LeRoy Cain called it "a huge milestone."
The new system takes the combined urine of the crew from the toilet, moves it to a big tank, where the water is boiled off, and the vapor collected. The rest of contaminants is thrown away, said Marybeth Edeen, the space station's national lab manager who was in charge of the system.
The water vapor is mixed with water from air condensation, then it goes through filters. When six crew members are aboard it can make about six gallons from urine in about six hours.
The technology NASA developed for this system has already been used for quick water purification after the 2004 Asian tsunami, Edeen said.
"We are happy to have this water work through the system — we're happy to have it work through our systems," Barratt said.
國(guó)際空間站的宇航員于本周三慶祝他們喝上了利用尿液、汗液以及蒸汽制出的水，這是太空的一大創(chuàng)舉。他們用飲水袋碰杯慶祝，高喊“干杯”，與也在飲用循環(huán)水的美國(guó)宇航局地面工作人員舉杯共慶。
美國(guó)宇航員邁克爾•巴拉特說(shuō)：“味道好極了，值得品嘗”。當(dāng)時(shí)俄羅斯宇航員杰納迪•帕達(dá)爾卡正試圖抓住在他面前漂浮的循環(huán)水小氣泡。
他開(kāi)玩笑道，水的商標(biāo)應(yīng)該這樣寫：“當(dāng)真正的水遠(yuǎn)在200多英里之外時(shí)，就請(qǐng)享用它吧。”
對(duì)身處月球和火星“前哨”的宇航員來(lái)說(shuō)，研制尿液循環(huán)水系統(tǒng)很有必要。這還將為美國(guó)宇航局節(jié)省經(jīng)費(fèi)，因?yàn)樗麄儾辉傩枰獙ｉT發(fā)射航天飛機(jī)或者運(yùn)載火箭給空間站運(yùn)送那么多水了。
這對(duì)常駐空間站的宇航員將來(lái)從三人擴(kuò)充至六人也至關(guān)重要。
這種循環(huán)水系統(tǒng)是去年11月由奮進(jìn)號(hào)航天飛機(jī)運(yùn)至空間站的，但直到水樣返回地面并經(jīng)過(guò)檢測(cè)，循環(huán)水才可以飲用。
三位宇航員手持水杯，向美國(guó)宇航局參與研制循環(huán)水系統(tǒng)的兩個(gè)工程師表示祝賀。
巴拉特在喝循環(huán)水之前說(shuō)：“就像以前科幻小說(shuō)里描寫的一樣?！?BR> 美國(guó)宇航局航天飛機(jī)事務(wù)副主管勒羅伊•凱恩稱之為“一個(gè)重要的里程碑”。
負(fù)責(zé)研制該系統(tǒng)的空間站國(guó)家試驗(yàn)室主管瑪麗貝斯•艾丁稱，新系統(tǒng)收集衛(wèi)生間的尿液，把它們裝進(jìn)一個(gè)大水桶里加熱，蒸汽被收集起來(lái)，而廢物則被丟掉。
尿液中的蒸汽和空氣中凝結(jié)出的水蒸汽一起被過(guò)濾。當(dāng)空間站里有六名宇航員時(shí)，在六小時(shí)內(nèi)可制出約六加侖水。
艾丁稱，在2004年亞洲海嘯發(fā)生后，美國(guó)宇航局研制的該技術(shù)已被應(yīng)用于快速水凈化。
巴拉特說(shuō)：“我們很高興可以喝上系統(tǒng)制出的循環(huán)水，系統(tǒng)成功運(yùn)行真是太令人興奮了?！?BR>