http://www.flickr.com/photos/90417577@N00/3077336494/
Yesterday, astronauts aboard the ISS took, what The Associated Press called: “one small sip for man and a giant gulp of recycled urine for mankind.”
Yep, scientists have now perfected recycling drinking water from human urine. Until now, Russian scientists get their water aboard the station by capturing moisture in the air.
We presume that the drinking water tastes more or less like water — those NASA dudes are smart folks. Indeed, the article describes a weeklong process whereby the urine is collected, the water is boiled off, and then collected. The uric acid and other brine is then discarded.
What do the astronauts themselves say about how it tastes?
Reports the AP:
“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.”
