What the life of an astronaut has to teach everyone on Earth

If you want to make a five-year-old burst out laughing, tell him that astronauts drink their urine when they are in space. It’s one of those fun facts that always fascinates people about life in space. Robyn , deputy director of NASA’s International Space Station  program, has seen a lot of negative reactions to this practice in her 30 years of experience at the US agency. “It’s crazy to do it, it sounds unpleasant,” he says. The ISS recycles approximately of its water: like astronauts’ urine, they also use their sweat, the humidity of their breath and the water with which they clean themselves.

Water where there is none

A model to follow It may sound unappealing, but the ability to reuse the same water over and over again is what has allowed Guatemala Phone Number List humans to stay in space for long periods of time without needing to replenish. This system could help astronauts become self-sufficient on a planet like Mars, a two-year journey that NASA plans to undertake by the mid-. It’s just one example of the many ways makes the most of the resources it has. And it’s exactly the kind of practices that make the space agency a role model for those on Earth trying to eliminate waste by recycling it. To do this works with businesses in much of its research and has the Technology Transfer Program, which aims to ensure that its scientists know how to apply these practices both on Earth and in space.

From Earth to space

work with all types of industries, not just the space industry,” clarifies . Water where there is none For example, the American firm Hong-Kong Phone Number List Water Security Corporation bought NASA’s rights to water recycling technology and now has a simpler version for Earth. This company’s filters are used to supply water in remote areas of countries such as Mexico or India, or in areas where a natural disaster has occurred. In the case of NASA, recycling almost all of the water on the ISS has meant that since 2009 the space station has been able to host six astronauts, instead of three. This expansion has been “decisive,” says , because it has allowed the crew to do more scientific experiments. It also saved them a lot of money.