NASA tests equipment to turn urine into drinking water

A FIRST: Samples of the processed urine, sweat and condensation will first be tested on Earth.

ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos
be a Citizen Journalist. Log on to m.ibnlive.com NOW!

Related Stories

Top Headlines

Top Videos

Most Popular

• Politicians play coy; avoid debate on gay sex 

• Serena wins Wimbledon women's singles title | Match in pics 

• Speeding bus falls on Howrah rail tracks, 10 dead 

• Heavy rains throw Mumbai out of gear 

• 6 sharpshooters of Chhota Shakeel held in Delhi: cops 

• New swine flu case takes India's tally to 129 

• Goodbye to Mumbai slums, child star moves into flat 

• Cops accused of killing man to win medals | Watch 

• Maid insists Shiney raped her: women's panel chief 

• Exhume bodies of Shopian women in Kashmir: High Court 

• Railways fail to provide basic facilities to passengers 

• Budget on Campus: Young India's expectations from FM 

• Speeding bus falls on Howrah rail tracks, 10 dead 

• Politicians play coy; avoid debate on gay sex 

• Watch: Cops shoot man to win medals 

• MJ to be buried in style in a 14-carat casket 

• Surviving The City: Moving ahead despite Necrosis 

• Politicians play coy; avoid debate on gay sex 

• Axe the Tax: CNN-IBN takes public tax complaints to FM 

• CJ appeals for help to find missing daughter 

• Second nursing student alleges Andhra MLA raped her 

• Maid insists Shiney raped her: women's panel chief 

• CM helpless, admits Maoists extort Rs 300 cr annually 

• Bus falls on rail tracks in Kolkata, 8 killed 

• Cops accused of killing man to win medals 

• Exhume bodies of Shopian women in Kashmir: High Court 

• Goodbye to Mumbai slums, child star moves into flat 

• Politicians play coy; avoid debate on gay sex 

• 10 years of Kargil, heroes recall the war 

• Serena wins Wimbledon women's singles title 

Photogallery

Find us on Facebook | Join IBNLive community

Stay ahead with G-Talk Buddy | Click now!

New Delhi: After five frustrating days, astronauts aboad space shuttle Endeavour finally ran a successful test on equipment that turns urine into drinking water.

Samples of the processed urine, sweat and condensation will be tested on Earth before astronauts can start drinking the purified water next year.

But until early Tuesday, the machine couldn't last the four hours needed for a successful test run.

A six member space crew could soon be in orbit, thus doubling the present crew strength. The tests are therefore, a necessity for supporting the crew.

NASA added a 16th day to Endeavour's mission so astronauts could tinker with the urine processor.

Flight Director Holly Ridings in Houston, Texas confirmed that the tests were going well. There was more good news for the astronauts on Tuesday when it was announced that a jammed solar-wing joint on the station's right side had been mended.

Flight controllers said that tests showed the solar wing's joint has been moving well so far - after not working properly for more than a year.