Scientists build real-life “stillsuit” to recycle astronaut’s urine on spacewalks

Zoom in / Fremen on Arrakis wear full-body “stillsuits” that recycle absorbed sweat and urine into potable water.

Warner Bros.

The Fremen inhabit the harsh desert world of Arrakis by Frank Herbert Hill They rely on whole-body “stillsuits” for their survival that recycle absorbed sweat and urine into drinking water. Now science fiction is on the verge of becoming science fact: Cornell University researchers have designed a prototype stillsuit for astronauts that will recycle their urine into drinking water during spacewalks. New paper Published in the journal Frontiers in Space Technologies.

Herbert provided specific details The design of the stillsuit When astronomer Light Kynes explained the technology to Duke Leto Atreides I:

It is basically a micro-sandwich-high efficiency filter and heat transfer system. The skin-contact layer is porous. Sweat passes through it, cooling the body … normal evaporation process. The next two layers … include heat transfer fibers and salt deposits. Salt recovered. Body movements, especially breathing and some osmotic functions, provide the pumping force. The reclaimed water goes through this tube in the clip around your neck to the cat pockets that pull… Urine and feces are processed in the thigh pads. In the open desert, wear this filter across your face, and wear this tube over your nostrils with these plugs to ensure a tight fit. Breathe through the mouth filter and through the nose tube. With a freemen suit working well, you won’t lose more than a finger a day of moisture…

The Illustrated Dune Encyclopedia He explained that a stillsuit is similar to a hazmat suit, without completely covering the face. In David Lynch’s 1984 film, Hill, the stillsuits were organic and very form-fitting compared to the book description, almost like a second skin. Stillsuits from Denis Villeneuve’s most recent film adaptations (Hill Section 1 And Part 2) attempted to cut more closely to the raw material with “micro-sandwiches” of acrylic fibers and finer cottons and tubes embedded for better flexibility.

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Zoom in / In David Lynch’s 1984 film, HillStillsuits were organic and very form fitting.

Universal Pictures

The Cornell team did not initially attempt to develop a practical stillsuit. Hacksmith occupations Made a stillsuit “to make a day”. Just last month, with other projects previously including Thor’s stormbreaker axe, Captain America’s electromagnetic shield, and a plasma-powered lightsaber. Hacksmith’s team focused on recycling sweat and moisture from breathing, giving features that recycle urine and feces.

Their version has a waterproof baggy suit (swapped in the final version for a more form-fitting bunny suit) with a battery-powered heat exchanger on the back. Any moisture condenses on the surface of the suit and drips into a bottle attached to the Camelbak bladder. A filter attached to a tube allows the wearer to breathe filtered air, but only one way; The exhaled air is redirected to the condenser so that the water content is collected in the camelbag bladder and then sent to the mask so that the user can drink it. Because it mostly recycles moisture from sweat on the wearer’s back, it doesn’t even come close to achieving Herbert’s Thimbleful for a day in terms of performance. But it worked.

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