Scientists in the United States have created a real life Dune-inspired "still suit" prototype that would allow astronauts to drink their own recycled urine and sweat.
The design prototype published today in Frontiers in Space Technology would absorb sweat and urine collected from within the astronaut's suit to convert into drinking water, inspired by the high-efficiency filtration 'still suit' system worn by characters in the science fiction blockbuster series Dune.
Research staff member at Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University, and the study's first author Sofia Etlin said the existing maximum absorbency garment (MAG) in traditional spacesuits had been used since the late 1970s and functioned like a "multi-layered adult diaper".
"They're uncomfortable, unhygienic, and don't recycle valuable water in urine," she said.
She said the MAG reportedly leaked and caused health issues such as urinary tract infections and gastrointestinal distress for astronauts.
"Additionally, astronauts currently have only one litre of water available in their in-suit drink bags. This is insufficient for the planned, longer-lasting lunar spacewalks, which can last ten hours, and even up to 24 hours in an emergency," said Etlin.
The new design consisted of an undergarment made of multiple layers of flexible fabric connected to a collection cup (in two different sizes and shapes for women and men) of moulded silicone to fit around the genitalia.
The inner face of the collection cup is lined with polyester microfibre or a nylon-spandex blend, to draw urine away from the body and towards the inner cup's inner face where it is then sucked by a vacuum pump.
Once collected, the urine is diverted to the urine filtration system, where it gets recycled with an efficiency of 87% through a two-step, integrated forward and reverse osmosis filtration system.
Etlin said collecting and purifying 500ml of urine would take just five minutes through the 8kg high-tech backpack.
"Now that the prototype is available, the new design can be tested under simulated conditions, and subsequently during real spacewalks."
Researchers said the system was designed with NASA's upcoming Artemis II and III missions in mind, where a crew will orbit the Moon and land on its south pole in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
These missions were expected to be followed by crewed missions to Mars by the early 2030s.
SHARE ME