Scientists Create Urine Screening Tools To Drink Astronauts

NASA's spacesuit (photo: Doc. NASA Johnson YouTube)

JAKARTA Space missions have very complex challenges, one of which is helping astronauts survive. With the many boosts in this sector, the technology has also increased. Recently, a group of scientists said that they have found a way to accommodate and recycle astronauts' urine. The technology that will be added into the astronaut's clothing can also turn urine into drinking water. That is, astronauts can store their urine and drink the water while using their clothes. Unusual, and also very strange technology, this is claimed to be a substitute for clothing with minimum fiber power (MAG). Over the years, astronauts used disposable diapers during their clothing. The Popok, introduced since the 1980s, will host urine as long as astronauts run its missions outside the space station. Like diapers in general, MAG can cause skin irritation or infection because spacewalks or spacewalks can be more than 6 hours a day. If astronauts put out urine, the clothes they use will feel heavier.

Therefore, scientists created technologies that may not have been thought of before. Reporting from Space, this technology can collect 500 milliliters of urine inside the spacesuit. Within five minutes, the astronaut's urine will be purifyed. This technology will replace the MAG and use a flexible compressional material coated with antimicrobial fabrics. This material will include a urine moisture sensor coated with silicon cups and will be placed at the bottom of the genitals. The detected Urine will be sucked in by a vacuum pump and carried into a 38 cm x 23 cm filtering device in the back. After that, the filtering device will convert urine into fresh water, then put into a drinking bag. This urine filtering technology has just entered the initial testing stage. From the observations of scientists, they managed to remove the main components of urine such as reducing salt levels. The created freshwater will be adjusted to health standards.