NASA Says 98% of Astronauts’ Urine, Sweat Can Be Recycled Into Drinking Water

NASA has developed the ability to recycle 98% of the water collected from the US segment of the International Space Station (ISS), which includes recycling urine and sweat into drinking water. This achievement is crucial for long-duration deep space exploration, where water resources are limited. The existing urine processor assembly on the ISS currently recycles about 87% of the water in crew urine, combined with the rest of the water recovery system, resulting in a 93.5% water recovery rate. However, NASA aims to increase this number to 98% with the new brine processor assembly recently installed on the ISS. The brine processor assembly can recover about 8% of the water, bringing the total water recovery rate closer to the target of 98%