New study designs spacesuit to recycle urine into drinking water

A spacesuit that can absorb moisture and recycle it into drinking water seems like the stuff of science fiction. But a new study could bring it a step closer to reality.

A team of researchers has designed a spacesuit that would collect urine and filter it into drinking water, inspired by the “stillsuits” from the sci-fi franchise “Dune.”.“

“I found it a little ridiculous that we haven’t made a distillate yet,” said Sofia Etlin, lead author of the study and a researcher at Weill Cornell Medicine.

Etlin told USA TODAY she got the idea from Frank Herbert’s original “Dune” book series, in which natives of the desert planet Arrakis wear suits that absorb urine and sweat to preserve their bodies’ natural moisture.

The research team’s new spacesuit design, described in a paper published Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Space Technology, aims to collect 85 percent of an astronaut’s urine and filter it into drinking water while floating in space.

The suit, worn by an astronaut during a “spacewalk” or outside the spacecraft, consists of three parts: “a piece that collects urine, a piece that filters it and the piece where water is collected so the astronauts can drink it again,” Etlin explained.

According to the study, the team designed the new suits from a flexible material lined with antimicrobial fabric. Urine would be collected through an “external catheter system” and flow into a silicone cup equipped with moisture sensors that can detect when liquid enters.

Then, a filtration system would turn the water into drinking water through forward and reverse osmosis, the study authors wrote. The filter would keep salt levels low and remove compounds found in urine such as urea, uric acid, ammonia and calcium.

While the new suit would help astronauts during spacewalks, the International Space Station already has a system that collects wastewater and turns it into drinking water, according to NASA.

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Astronauts complain of leaks and discomfort with current system

The filtration system astronauts currently use in space is far from ideal, Etlin said.

Known as the “extravehicular mobility unit,” or EMU, the system dates back to the 1970s, she said.

The first system used was a condom-like catheter, Etlin explains. Once the first women went into space, astronauts began using a disposable diaper called a “maximum absorbency garment.”

According to NASA, the diaper uses a “highly absorbent polymer compound” to soak up urine and turn it into a gel. A technical brief released by NASA last year said astronauts complained that the urine collection device was uncomfortable, caused skin irritation and frequent leaks.

Keeping waste close to the body for so long can also put astronauts at risk for medical problems such as urinary tract infections and gastrointestinal upset, the study said.

“It’s like I can’t tell the difference between urine and sweat,” Etlin said. “In the most intense physical exertion, at any point in a space flight, they’re wearing diapers.”

Astronauts also said the foul odors coming from the waste collection system also made them lose their appetite, the report said. The bag “doesn’t stick well to the buttocks,” sometimes causing a “total mess,” the report said.

Astronauts sometimes eat and drink less in the days leading up to a spacewalk to avoid using the current system, the study authors write. But that can sap an astronaut’s energy levels for a long spacewalk.

Spacewalks are particularly physically demanding because they cause astronauts to sweat profusely and increase the risk of dehydration, the study found. Astronauts also have to go into space more frequently: Gravitational changes lower their water levels by up to 3 percent, causing them to urinate more.

And that’s on top of the heavy toll that floating in space takes on the human body. “Astronauts are in a situation where, in microgravity, they slowly lose muscle mass,” Etlin says.

Astronauts do a lot of exercise to counteract these effects, “but it’s never enough,” Etlin said. “They always come back weaker the longer they spend up there.”

An astronaut’s water bag – currently less than a liter – is also not enough to stay hydrated during long spacewalks, the study said.

“You’re on the moon, you’re on your rover, you’re x kilometers from your base, you break down, and now what happens? You’re almost out of water to drink,” Etlin said. “These are scenarios that astronauts have thought about and are concerned about in terms of how much water they have.”

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The new spacesuits will not be used for several years

While several space missions are planned, new technologies to facilitate space travel are being developed. NASA plans to send astronauts into moon orbit in the fall of 2025 and hopes to land two astronauts on the lunar surface a year later.

Etlin said the new suits likely won’t be used until 2026. Her team just received approval to conduct a clinical test of the catheter portion of the suit this fall. “Seeing things go into space is very difficult, even in terms of the cost of testing them,” she said.

She is nevertheless pleased that her project is coming to fruition at a time when interest in space travel is growing.

“The industry is on the brink,” she said. “If I had this idea two years ago, there wouldn’t even be a discussion about it because there weren’t any new spacesuits being developed.”

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. You can reach her by email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.