NASA Achieves Water Recovery Milestone on International Space Station

June 20, 2023

For space missions that venture beyond low Earth orbit, new challenges include how to provide basic needs for crew members without resupply missions from the ground. NASA is developing life support systems that can regenerate or recycle consumables such as food, air, and water and is testing them on the International Space Station.

Ideally, life support systems need to recover close to 98% of the water that crews bring along at the start of a long journey. The space station’s Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) recently demonstrated that it can achieve that significant goal.

ECLSS is a combination of hardware that includes a Water Recovery System. This system collects wastewater and sends it to the Water Processor Assembly (WPA), which produces drinkable water. One specialized component uses advanced dehumidifiers to capture moisture released into the cabin air from crew breath and sweat.

Another subsystem, the Urine Processor Assembly (UPA), recovers water from urine using vacuum distillation. A previous technology demonstration on the space station tested improvements to the UPA’s Distillation Assembly. Distillation produces water and a urine brine that still contains some reclaimable water. A Brine Processor Assembly (BPA) developed to extract this remaining wastewater has been on the space station as a demonstration of its operation in microgravity. Recent assessments found that the BPA helped the system achieve the 98% water recovery goal.

“This is a very important step forward in the evolution of life support systems,” says Christopher Brown, part of the team at Johnson Space Center that manages the space station’s life support system. “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.”

“Before the BPA, our total water recovery was between 93 and 94% overall,” says Jill Williamson, ECLSS water subsystems manager. “We have now demonstrated that we can reach total water recovery of 98%, thanks to the brine processor.”

The BPA takes the brine produced by the UPA and runs it through a special membrane technology, then blows warm, dry air over the brine to evaporate the water. That process creates humid air, which, just like crew breath and perspiration, is collected by the station’s water collection systems.

All the collected water is treated by the WPA. It first uses a series of specialized filters, then a catalytic reactor that breaks down any trace contaminants that remain. Sensors check the water purity and unacceptable water is reprocessed. The system also adds iodine to the acceptable water to prevent microbial growth and stores it, ready for the crew to use. Each crew member needs about a gallon of water per day for consumption, food preparation, and hygiene such as brushing teeth.

The team acknowledges that the idea of drinking recycled urine might make some people squeamish. But they stress that the end result is far superior to what municipal water systems produce on the ground.

“The processing is fundamentally similar to some terrestrial water distribution systems, just done in microgravity,” Williamson says. “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. We have a lot of processes in place and a lot of ground testing to provide confidence that we are producing clean, potable water.”

The systems in ECLSS have been carefully tested, not only to ensure that they perform as intended, but also to demonstrate that each is reliable and can operate long-term without a lot of maintenance or spare parts.

“The regenerative ECLSS systems become ever more important as we go beyond low Earth orbit,” Williamson says. “The inability of resupply during exploration means we need to be able to reclaim all the resources the crew needs on these missions. The less water and oxygen we have to ship up, the more science that can be added to the launch vehicle. Reliable, robust regenerative systems mean the crew doesn’t have to worry about it and can focus on the true intent of their mission.”

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/water_recovery_milestone/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-Rc-kS9HPQ

Webb Makes First Detection of Crucial Carbon Molecule

Jun 26, 2023

A team of international scientists has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to detect a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+), the molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules. Methyl cation was detected in a young star system, with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, which is located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula.

Carbon compounds form the foundations of all known life, and as such are particularly interesting to scientists working to understand both how life developed on Earth, and how it could potentially develop elsewhere in our universe. The study of interstellar organic (carbon-containing) chemistry, which Webb is opening in new ways, is an area of keen fascination to many astronomers.

The unique capabilities of Webb made it an ideal observatory to search for this crucial molecule. Webb’s exquisite spatial and spectral resolution, as well as its sensitivity, all contributed to the team’s success. In particular, Webb’s detection of a series of key emission lines from CH3+ cemented the discovery.

“This detection not only validates the incredible sensitivity of Webb but also confirms the postulated central importance of CH3+ in interstellar chemistry,” said Marie-Aline Martin-Drumel of the University of Paris-Saclay in France, a member of the science team.While the star in d203-506 is a small red dwarf, the system is bombarded by strong ultraviolet (UV) light from nearby hot, young, massive stars. Scientists believe that most planet-forming disks go through a period of such intense UV radiation, since stars tend to form in groups that often include massive, UV-producing stars.

Typically, UV radiation is expected to destroy complex organic molecules, in which case the discovery of CH3+ might seem to be a surprise. However, the team predicts that UV radiation might actually provide the necessary source of energy for CH3+ to form in the first place. Once formed, it then promotes additional chemical reactions to build more complex carbon molecules.

Broadly, the team notes that the molecules they see in d203-506 are quite different from typical protoplanetary disks. In particular, they could not detect any signs of water.

“This clearly shows that ultraviolet radiation can completely change the chemistry of a protoplanetary disk. It might actually play a critical role in the early chemical stages of the origins of life,” elaborated Olivier Berné of the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Toulouse, lead author of the study.

These findings, which are from the PDRs4ALL Early Release Science program, have been published in the journal Nature.

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2023/webb-makes-first-detection-of-crucial-carbon-molecule

https://www.stsci.edu/jwst/science-execution/approved-programs/dd-ers/program-1288

Marco Rubio says he's heard shocking 'firsthand' accounts of UFOs from top Pentagon officials who claim US does own crashed non-human craft - and is working on reverse-engineering their technology

UPDATED: 17:10 EDT, 27 June 2023

More whistleblowers in the Pentagon have come forward with 'first-hand knowledge' of secret UFO crash retrieval programs, US Senator Marco Rubio has revealed.

The Republican Florida Sen said officials with 'very high clearances' who have occupied 'high positions within our government' have come forward with 'first-hand knowledge or first-hand claims' of top secret Government programs.

Ex-Air Force officer David Grusch made worldwide news earlier this month when he claimed alien craft and bodies had been recovered and back-engineered by US officials.

Sen. Rubio said that some of these witnesses who spoke with the Senate Intelligence Committee — where Rubio is vice chairman — were likely some of the same individuals referenced by Grusch.

'A lot of these people came to us even before these protections were in the law for whistleblowers to come forward,' Rubio told NewsNation Monday.

Grusch, an Air Force veteran who went on to posts at both the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the NRO, told the inspector general that he had faced illegal retaliation for his inquiries into these same highly classified UFO programs.

For their part, the inspector general described Grusch's complaint as 'credible and urgent' in July 2022 — forwarding the filing to the US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Rubio's own Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, among others.

Sen. Rubio - who is vice chair of the Senate's intelligence committee - emphasized that there have been similar credible threats to the committee's other unnamed witnesses, their livelihoods and their lives.

'I'm not trying to be evasive,' Sen. Rubio said, 'but I am trying to be protective of these people.'

'Some of these people still work in the government, and frankly a lot of them are very fearful,' the Florida Republican noted, 'fearful of their jobs, fearful of their clearances, fearful of their career, and some frankly are fearful of harm coming to them.'

Rubio's comments illustrate the need for Congress's newly created UFO whistleblower protections — which were enacted last year through a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.

But the senator's comments also help explain the bold recent moves by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Last week, the committee unanimously adopted a provision to cut off all federal funding to any secret UFO reverse-engineering program, whether conducted by the US government or hidden away in the private sector via a defense contractor.

The Intel committee chose their words carefully, broadly targeting any reverse-engineering programs involving unidentified craft of 'non-earth' or 'exotic' origin.

Despite the shocking directness of these legislative moves, Rubio was more circumspect about the complete accuracy of these high-level whistleblowers and their claims.

'I don't find them either not credible or credible,' Sen. Rubio told NewsNation Washington correspondent Joe Khalil. 'Understand some of these claims are things that are beyond the realm what any of us has ever dealt with.'

In Rubio's assessment, the sheer number and stature of the first-hand witnesses who have briefed the intelligence committee is — by itself — a cause for concern and worthy of more attention.

'Most of these people at some point, or maybe even currently, have held very high clearances, and high positions within our government,' Rubio noted.

'So, you do ask yourself, 'What incentive would so many people, with that kind of qualification, have to come forward and make something up?''

'These are serious people,' Rubio said.

Given the stature of these sources and the volatility of their claims, the senator called for 'a mature understanding' from his fellow legislators, policymakers, and the general public — saying that he sees a duty to 'intake the information without any prejudgment or jumping to any conclusions in one direction or another.'

'We're trying to gather as much of that information as we can,' Rubio said.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12238931/Senator-Marco-Rubio-says-officials-high-clearances-knowledge-UFO-craft-retrievals.html

U.S. Ambassador to Japan visits QZSS-HP Site

June 26, 2023

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – The Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), a Japanese regional augmentation system to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) is sparking interest across the space enterprise. Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan, recently visited the Kamakura, Japan site of the Quasi-Zenith Satellite System Hosted Payload (QZSS-HP), the unique pathfinding national security space cooperation initiative between the United States and Japan.

Ambassador Emanuel met June 20 with Mr. Yasuyuki Kasai, director general, Japanese National Space Policy Secretariat (NSPS), Cabinet Office (CAO); Ms. Asako Ueno, executive director, QZSS Strategy Office (QZSO), NSPS, CAO; Mr. Nozomu Takaki, technical advisor, QZSO, NSPS, CAO; Mr. Tomonori Sato, group president, Defense & Space Systems, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation; and Lt. Col. Brian Fredrickson, QZSS-HP program manager for Space Systems Command (SSC).

Space Systems Command recently delivered two sensor payloads to be integrated into two new Japanese QZSS satellites that will be launched on a Japanese-developed launch vehicle as part of the U.S. Space Force (USSF)-Japan mission.

“International partnerships are important to the United States because that’s where our strength lies,” said F Schnell, director of acquisition, SSC Space Domain Awareness Delta. “It lies in the U.S. and partner nations sharing the full brunt of accomplishing tasks and missions, and having diversity of thought, capabilities, and requirements.”

“Additionally, allied participation allows us to defray costs, incorporate different perspectives and different capabilities,” Schnell continued. “It also makes our adversaries have to look at situations differently. That is truly the benefit of having allied, like-minded partners coming together and saying, ‘This is what’s best for our mutual defense and assurance.’”

The visit took place at Mitsubishi Electric Kamakura Works. Emanuel was on hand to see the first payload integrated with the first host satellite, QZS-6, followed by a briefing on the mission.

The current QZSS constellation consists of four satellites, with plans to expand to eleven recently announced by Japan’s NSPS. The USSF payloads, which were developed by MIT Lincoln Laboratories, will be hosted on QZS-6 and QZS-7.

“We greatly appreciate Mitsubishi Electric Corporation hosting director general Kasai and Ambassador Emanuel,” Fredrickson said. “Space Systems Command, the U.S. Space Force and NSPS are pleased to showcase QZSS-HP’s contribution to the broader U.S.-Japan Alliance as it extends to the space domain.”

SSC has supported the QZSS-HP program as a rapid acquisition and pacesetting partnership effort with Japan since its inception in 2018 and the historic December 2020 Memorandum of Understanding between Japan's NSPS and the USSF that allowed the two countries to break ground and begin execution.

Delivery of the sensors involved USSF’s partnership with Air Mobility Command to secure safe transit from Hanscom Air Force Base's 66th Air Base Wing in Massachusetts to Yokota Air Base's 374th Airlift Wing in Japan. The first sensor was delivered in January; the second, in May.

https://www.ssc.spaceforce.mil/Newsroom/Article-Display/Article/3439635/us-ambassador-to-japan-visits-qzss-hp-site

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