The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is responsible for designing and building the life support systems that will provide the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) a comfortable environment in which to live and work. Scientists and engineers at the MSFC are working together to provide the ISS with systems that are safe, efficient, and cost-effective. These compact and powerful systems are collectively called the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems, or simply, ECLSS. This photograph shows the fifth generation Urine Processor Development Hardware. The Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) is a part of the Water Recovery System (WRS) on the ISS. It uses a chase change process called vapor compression distillation technology to remove contaminants from urine. The UPA accepts and processes pretreated crewmember urine to allow it to be processed along with other wastewaters in the Water Processor Assembly (WPA). The WPA removes free gas, organic, and nonorganic constituents before the water goes through a series of multifiltration beds for further purification. Product water quality is monitored primarily through conductivity measurements. Unacceptable water is sent back through the WPA for reprocessing. Clean water is sent to a storage tank.
The Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is responsible for designing and building the life support systems that will provide the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) a comfortable environment in which to live and work. Scientists and engineers at the MSFC are working together to provide the ISS with systems that are safe, efficient, and cost-effective. These compact and powerful systems are collectively called the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems, or simply, ECLSS. This photograph shows the development Water Processor located in two racks in the ECLSS test area at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Actual waste water, simulating Space Station waste, is generated and processed through the hardware to evaluate the performance of technologies in the flight Water Processor design.
ISS007-E-09231 (3 July 2003) --- Cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko, Expedition 7 mission commander, performs scheduled in-flight maintenance (IFM) on the condensate water processor (SRV-K2M) by removing and replacing its BKO multifiltration/purification column unit, which has reached its service life limit (450 liters min.). The old unit will be discarded on Progress. The IFM took place in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station (ISS). Malenchenko represents Rosaviakosmos.
ISS007-E-09229 (3 July 2003) --- Cosmonaut Yuri I. Malenchenko, Expedition 7 mission commander, performs scheduled in-flight maintenance (IFM) on the condensate water processor (SRV-K2M) by removing and replacing its BKO multifiltration/purification column unit, which has reached its service life limit (450 liters min.). The old unit will be discarded on Progress. The IFM took place in the Zvezda Service Module on the International Space Station (ISS). Malenchenko represents Rosaviakosmos.
ISS047e013845 (03/22/2016) --- ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Tim Peake works on the Water Processor Assembly (WPA) aboard the International Space Station. The WPA is is responsible for treating waste water aboard the station for recycling back into potable water.
ISS029-E-021648 (10 Oct. 2011) --- NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Expedition 29 commander, installs the Advanced Recycle Filter Tank Assembly (ARFTA) at the Urine Processor Assembly / Water Recovery System (UPA WRS) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station.
S130-E-006844 (10 Feb. 2010) --- NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, Expedition 22 commander, installs a Urine Processor Assembly / Distillation Assembly (UPA DA) in the Water Recovery System (WRS) rack in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station while space shuttle Endeavour (STS-130) remains docked with the station.
ISS020-E-005879 (1 June 2009) --- European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 20 flight engineer, performs the regular service on the Water Processor Assembly (WPA) in the Kibo laboratory of the International Space Station.
The Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) Group of the Flight Projects Directorate at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is responsible for designing and building the life support systems that will provide the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) a comfortable environment in which to live and work. This photograph shows the mockup of the the ECLSS to be installed in the Node 3 module of the ISS. From left to right, shower rack, waste management rack, Water Recovery System (WRS) Rack #2, WRS Rack #1, and Oxygen Generation System (OGS) rack are shown. The WRS provides clean water through the reclamation of wastewaters and is comprised of a Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) and a Water Processor Assembly (WPA). The UPA accepts and processes pretreated crewmember urine to allow it to be processed along with other wastewaters in the WPA. The WPA removes free gas, organic, and nonorganic constituents before the water goes through a series of multifiltration beds for further purification. The OGS produces oxygen for breathing air for the crew and laboratory animals, as well as for replacing oxygen loss. The OGS is comprised of a cell stack, which electrolyzes (breaks apart the hydrogen and oxygen molecules) some of the clean water provided by the WRS, and the separators that remove the gases from the water after electrolysis.
jsc2024e043917 (7/10/2024) --- Packed Bed Reactor Experiment-Water Recovery (PBRE-WR) examines flow rates of gas and liquid through a filtering substrate in the space station water processor, replacing oxygen with nitrogen. This preflight image shows the PBRE-WR test section with alumina packed bed material loaded. Scientists aim to learn more about how reduced gravity affects the performance and reliability of various filtration systems
ISS021-E-032275 (23 Nov. 2009) --- NASA astronaut Leland Melvin, STS-129 mission specialist, holds the failed Urine Processor Assembly / Distillation Assembly (UPA DA) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station while space shuttle Atlantis remains docked with the station. Melvin and European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne (out of frame), Expedition 21 commander, removed and packed the UPA DA, then transferred it from the Water Recovery System 2 (WRS-2) rack to Atlantis for stowage on the middeck.
ISS021-E-032273 (23 Nov. 2009) --- European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, Expedition 21 commander, holds the failed Urine Processor Assembly / Distillation Assembly (UPA DA) in the Destiny laboratory of the International Space Station while space shuttle Atlantis remains docked with the station. De Winne and NASA astronaut Leland Melvin (out of frame), STS-129 mission specialist, removed and packed the UPA DA, then transferred it from the Water Recovery System 2 (WRS-2) rack to Atlantis for stowage on the middeck.
A view of the OSIRIS-REx sample canister with the lid removed, revealing the Touch and Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) inside. When astromaterials processors removed the canister lid, they discovered a coating of fine asteroid dust and sand-sized particles covering the inside of the lid and on the top of the avionics deck. The round portion in the center of the lower part of the canister is the TAGSAM that was used to collect pristine material from asteroid Bennu in 2020. The spacecraft delivered the sample return capsule to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023. OSIRIS-REx is the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid. Scientists hope the Bennu sample will reveal whether asteroids that collided with Earth billions of years ago thereby delivered water and other ingredients for life to our planet. Credits: Photo credit: NASA/Erika Blumenfeld & Joseph Aebersold Image Capture: Created using manual high-resolution precision photography and semi-automated focus stacking procedure.
A prototype of Organic Processor Assembly (OPA) – technology capable of treating mixed organic wastes – arrives at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 19, 2020. At the heart of the OPA is an anaerobic membrane bioreactor – a hybrid technology that couples anaerobic digestion with membrane filtration. Developed through a collaboration between Kennedy’s Dr. Luke Roberson and the University of South Florida’s Dr. Daniel Yeh, the OPA was designed for an early planetary base scenario to help close the resource recovery loop, decreasing the agency’s dependence on resupply missions.
A prototype of Organic Processor Assembly (OPA) – technology capable of treating mixed organic wastes – arrives at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 19, 2020. Developed through a collaboration between Kennedy’s Dr. Luke Roberson and the University of South Florida’s Dr. Daniel Yeh, the OPA was designed for an early planetary base scenario to help close the resource recovery loop, decreasing the agency’s dependence on resupply missions. At the heart of the OPA is an anaerobic membrane bioreactor – a hybrid technology that couples anaerobic digestion with membrane filtration.
A prototype of Organic Processor Assembly (OPA) – technology capable of treating mixed organic wastes – arrives at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 19, 2020. At the heart of the OPA is an anaerobic membrane bioreactor – a hybrid technology that couples anaerobic digestion with membrane filtration. Developed through a collaboration between Kennedy’s Dr. Luke Roberson and the University of South Florida’s Dr. Daniel Yeh, the OPA was designed for an early planetary base scenario to help close the resource recovery loop, decreasing the agency’s dependence on resupply missions.
A prototype of Organic Processor Assembly (OPA) – technology capable of treating mixed organic wastes – arrives at the Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 19, 2020. At the heart of the OPA is an anaerobic membrane bioreactor – a hybrid technology that couples anaerobic digestion with membrane filtration. Developed through a collaboration between Kennedy’s Dr. Luke Roberson and the University of South Florida’s Dr. Daniel Yeh, the OPA was designed for an early planetary base scenario to help close the resource recovery loop, decreasing the agency’s dependence on resupply missions.