Water Supply and Waste Management in
Spacecraft — Past, Present, and Future
RICHARD L. SAUER, Chief
Water and Waste Management
Preventive Medicine Division
NASA Manned Spacecraft Center
Houston, Texas
R. B. BUSTAMANTE, Associate Professor
School of Civil Engineering
Tennessee Technological University
Cookeville, Tennessee
INTRODUCTION
Prior to manned space flight, only submarines and other underwater vehicles
had life support and waste management system constraints analogous to those of
spacecraft. With the advent of manned space flights, new and very restrictive water
supply and waste management system requirements were introduced. The most
significant of these is the requirement that a spacecraft waste management system
must be capable of performing effectively under zero-gravity conditions while
adhering to several weight and space limitations.
Through the development of Project Mercury, the Gemini Program, and the
Apollo Program, the first phase of manned space flight has been brought to its final
stages. Booster power and life support systems sufficient to carry man to and from
the moon and to supply his basic necessities for the relatively short period of a lunar
exploration mission have been developed. The next phases of our exploration of the
universe include extended earth-orbital missions, visits to other planets, and extended
lunar stays. The duration of the projected missions will be on the order of months
and even years. Although the extended missions will place greater demand on booster
systems, the greatest challenge will involve the life support systems. Development of
these systems must be such that a closed ecological system is approached.
This paper is a discussion of the delivery of potable water and of the
management of waste produced by astronauts in manned space missions—past,
present, and future.
PROJECT MERCURY
Water System
The first United States manned spacecraft program was Project Mercury.
Potable water was supplied by a simple fill-and-draw system; all metabolic water was
loaded on board before launch. The system consisted of a water container and
associated water-delivery hardware (Figure 1). The water container was a flexible
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