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ISS Gets New Recycling Gear, Ready For Larger Crew

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the yay-for-august dept.

TnGoastiiaiu submitted a space.com story that expands on coverage we've had earlier about improvements being made to the ISS to increase crew capacity. He writes "ISS gets new recycling gear that transforms human waste to drinking water. Some of the water will be used to get Oxygene, too. This way it will soon be possible to host more crew members. " Also, someone needs to smack the webmaster over there for putting a background texture behind the text. It's pretty unreadable along the left hand side of the screen.

23 of 158 comments (clear)

  1. Waste hydrogen? by clang_jangle · · Score: 2, Funny

    Also, someone needs to smack the webmaster over there for putting a background texture behind the text. It's pretty unreadable along the left hand side of the screen.

    Looks just fine in Safari and Firefox, both on OS X... Sounds like someone needs to check their settings/browser choice before setting off to "smack" anyone. :)
    As for trasforming human waste (just urine, according TFA) into drinking water, well, I'm just mighty glad I didn't choose to become an astronaut. I did wonder about this part, though:

    It can also be used to feed the station's U.S.-built oxygen generator, which uses electrolysis to split liquid water into breathable oxygen and waste hydrogen.

    Waste hydrogen? I would have expected them to have some use for that.

    --
    Caveat Utilitor
    1. Re:Waste hydrogen? by dontPanik · · Score: 5, Funny

      The page looks fine on IE too.

      ...Not that I use Internet Explorer or anything!

      --
      "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." - Pablo Picasso
    2. Re:Waste hydrogen? by hardburn · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think it's enormously ironic that CmdrTaco can criticize anyone for website design.

      --
      Not a typewriter
    3. Re:Waste hydrogen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      One of my uncle is able to float a good 2 inches above the toilet when he jettison his waste.

    4. Re:Waste hydrogen? by gnick · · Score: 2, Funny

      Generally, that hydrogen will require oxygen(e) to be useful, and they're splitting the oxygen off for other uses already.

      Exactly - To use hydrogen, you typically either compress it or burn it. Compressing it is a lot of trouble and burning it is the exact opposite of extracting breathable oxygene* (a major goal).

      * Oxygene - Just like regular oxygen, but now with more electrolytes!

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    5. Re:Waste hydrogen? by gnick · · Score: 2, Funny

      Unfortunately, NASA ran into some copyright / prior art issues with Frank Herbert's estate and they had to resort to drinking reprocessed pee.

      Wouldn't that last run afoul of a certain Kevin Costner property as well?

      I wish you hadn't brought that up - It wouldn't have been an issue.

      There are a lot of people who have read Dune (or at least watched the mini-series or had the movie seared into their brains). But not even Costner sat through Waterworld - Since even the stage-hands and producers had blocked that movie out of their memories, nobody would have ever sued over the reprocessed pee scene.

      Thanks a lot for cluing them in...

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
  2. The real question is... by ivan256 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are they bringing any freeze-dried potatoe?

    1. Re:The real question is... by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 4, Funny

      I don't know about that, but they will get hydrogene as a byproduct.

      --
      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  3. Yummie! by SanderDJ · · Score: 5, Funny

    * Transform human waste to drinking water
    * ???
    * Profit!

    1. Re:Yummie! by yuriyg · · Score: 5, Funny

      * Transform human waste to drinking water
      * Collect spice
      * Profit!

  4. Water into code? by Thelasko · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some of the water will be used to get Oxygene

    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    1. Re:Water into code? by $RANDOMLUSER · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why not? Sometimes I turn beer into code.

      --
      No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
    2. Re:Water into code? by LordEd · · Score: 2, Funny

      Friends don't let friends code drunk.

    3. Re:Water into code? by sconeu · · Score: 4, Funny

      Or do mathematics.

      Remember, math and alcohol don't mix. Please don't drink and derive.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
  5. Oxygene by hcdejong · · Score: 4, Funny

    Jean-Michel Jarre songs are made of water? Who knew?

  6. Re:What is oxygene? by snowraver1 · · Score: 1, Funny

    No, that would be OxyCLEAN.

    --
    Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. This comment may not be copied in any way including, but not limited to caching.
  7. Re:Oxygene by ettlz · · Score: 4, Funny

    It comes in a Jarre, with a slight whiff of cheese.

  8. Re:Oxygene by johannesg · · Score: 4, Funny

    What's Oxygene?

    It is one of the two types of Atomes that make up Watere. The other is Hydrogene.

    If you have any other questions about Chemistrye, I'll be happy to answer them for you!

  9. Oxygene? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Jean Michel Jarre will be most pleased!

    1. Re:Oxygene? by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thanks for being the first person to notice this and post about it.

      --
      See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  10. Re:Oxygene by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Funny

    No, you're thinking about iXygen.

  11. Wahoo! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'm sure the guys up there are thrilled about drinking their own piss!

  12. Re:Yuk! by Orange+Crush · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh shit!

    That too.