Astronauts aboard the International Space Station have managed to recycle 98 per cent of their urine and sweat into drinking water, Nasa has announced – a major boost for global space aspirations.
The news is being heralded as a significant step forward in plans to launch long-term missions to the Moon and beyond.
While the idea might make some uneasy, Nasa says the drinking water produced is cleaner than that found back on Earth.
The unique recycling efforts are crucial to help scientists develop life support systems that can use existing resources to produce water, food and air during long-haul missions.
“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 said in a statement.
“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.”
The Environmental Control and Life Support System, the recycling technology on board the station, was recently able to recover 98 per cent of wastewater, beating a previous record of between 93 to 94 per cent.
“Ideally, life support systems need to recover close to 98 per cent of the water that crews bring along at the start of a long journey,” the Nasa statement added.
An important step forward
The ECLSS technology is a combination of hardware that includes a water recovery system, which collects wastewater and sends it to the water processor assembly to produce drinkable liquid.
“The processing is fundamentally similar to some terrestrial water distribution systems, just done in microgravity,” said Jill Williamson, the ECLSS water subsystems manager.
“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.”
To store astronauts' breath and sweat, the hardware uses advances dehumidifiers to capture moisture released into the cabin.
The urine processor assembly unit recovers water using vacuum distillation, and a brine – or extremely salty water – processor was recently added to increase the water recovery rate.
“This is a very important step forward in the evolution of life support systems,” said Christopher Brown, part of the team at Johnson Space Centre that manages the space station’s life support system.
“Let’s say you collect 100 pounds [45.3kg] of water on the station. You lose two pounds [0.9kg] of that and the other 98 per cent just keeps going around and around.
“Keeping that running is a pretty awesome achievement.”
All the collected water is treated by the water processing assembly technology, which first uses a series of specialised filters and then a catalytic reactor to break down any trace contaminants that remain, Nasa said.
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 for the crew to use.
Nasa said that each crew member needs about 3.7 litres of water per day for consumption, food preparation and hygiene, such as brushing teeth.
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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SHOW COURTS ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court (4pm UAE/12pm GMT)
Victoria Azarenka (BLR) v Heather Watson (GBR)
Rafael Nadal (ESP x4) v Karen Khachanov (RUS x30)
Andy Murray (GBR x1) v Fabio Fognini (ITA x28)
Court 1 (4pm UAE)
Steve Johnson (USA x26) v Marin Cilic (CRO x7)
Johanna Konta (GBR x6) v Maria Sakkari (GRE)
Naomi Osaka (JPN) v Venus Williams (USA x10)
Court 2 (2.30pm UAE)
Aljaz Bedene (GBR) v Gilles Muller (LUX x16)
Peng Shuai (CHN) v Simona Halep (ROM x2)
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x13) v Camila Giorgi (ITA)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x12) v Sam Querrey (USA x24)
Court 3 (2.30pm UAE)
Kei Nishikori (JPN x9) v Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x18)
Carina Witthoeft (GER) v Elina Svitolina (UKR x4)
Court 12 (2.30pm UAE)
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK x8) v Ana Konjuh (CRO x27)
Kevin Anderson (RSA) v Ruben Bemelmans (BEL)
Court 18 (2.30pm UAE)
Caroline Garcia (FRA x21) v Madison Brengle (USA)
Benoit Paire (FRA) v Jerzy Janowicz (POL)
Dubai Creek Open in numbers
- The Dubai Creek Open is the 10th tournament on this year's Mena Tour
- It is the first of five events before the season-concluding Mena Tour Championship
- This week's field comprises 120 players, 21 of which are amateurs
- 15 previous Mena Tour winners are competing at Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club
