NASA Invention Lets Astronauts Drink Their Own Urine, Sweat On ISS

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)is preparing for the Northrop Grumman Cargo Resupply Services-21 (CRS-21) mission, set to launch on March 21, 2025. This mission will deliver essential supplies, new scientific experiments, and critical hardware to support the crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS). While resupply missions remain vital, NASA has made significant strides in reducing astronauts’ reliance on Earth for essential resources—particularly when it comes to water.

One of the most important innovations aboard the ISS is the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) from 2023, which enables the station to recycle astronaut urine and sweat into clean, drinkable water. Yes, astronauts can drink their own sweat and pee aboard the ISS!

Using a combination of advanced filtration, dehumidification, vacuum distillation, and a Brine Processor Assembly (BPA), the system can recover 98% of all water produced on the station, significantly reducing the need for resupply missions carrying fresh water.

The BPA, a key component added to the system in 2023, has helped extract more water from the brine left over after urine processing. This marked a breakthrough for sustainability in space, ensuring that nearly all moisture—including humidity from astronaut breath—is reclaimed and purified.

“This is a very important step forward in the evolution of life support systems,” said Christopher Brown from the Johnson Space Center.

“Let’s say you collect 100 pounds of water on the station. You lose two pounds of that and the other 98% just keeps going around and around. Keeping that running is a pretty awesome achievement.”

Water is one of the most expensive resources to send into orbit due to extreme launch costs. NASA estimates that launching payloads to low Earth orbit can cost thousands of dollars per kilogram, depending on the launch provider and vehicle. For example, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy can transport cargo at approximately $2,350 per kilogram, while other systems, such as Rocket Lab’s Electron, charge upwards of $25,000 per kilogram, according to Space Insider.

Since one liter of water weighs approximately one kilogram, sending just a single liter to the ISS could cost thousands of dollars. Given these extreme expenses, NASA’s ability to turn astronaut urine, sweat, and humidity into drinkable water is a major breakthrough for sustainability and cost reduction.

This innovation is critical for future deep-space exploration, where resupply missions to the Moon or Mars will be far less feasible. NASA’s ability to turn wastewater into potable water is a game-changer.

Astronauts aboard the ISS describe the purified water as indistinguishable from Earth’s tap water, thanks to NASA’s rigorous filtration system, which removes all contaminants and ensures safety standards even higher than many municipal water systems.

"The crew is not drinking urine; they are drinking water that has been reclaimed, filtered, and cleaned such that it is cleaner than what we drink here on Earth," Jill Williamson, ECLSS water subsystems manager, told Space.com in 2023.

While CRS-21 will deliver fresh supplies, including scientific equipment and new technology, innovations like urine-to-water recycling are paving the way for long-term human spaceflight. As NASA gears up for missions beyond Earth’s orbit, this breakthrough ensures that astronauts will have access to a continuous, self-sustaining water supply, bringing deep-space exploration one step closer to reality.

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