The NASA toilet... drinking your own juice...

I haven't touched at my mailbox a little while (otherwise, I'd be online all the time... avoiding that big housechore cleanup!).

So prominently sitting on top of my huge pile of unread mails... a mail from a friend, commenting about that infamous "space toilet" on the Space Station. Also the fact that this is likely to be the kind of toilet to be used for a trip to Mars. He was making fun at the fact that astronauts... have to drink their own juice. Oh, the fact that the toilet is of Russian design. Yeah sure, very funny...

This reminded me of my forum years... beside my tech forums, I was a forum staffer at various "Languages & Culture" type forums, among other forums... so I had to do some lectures... and I have this urge itching me right now. Ok, I'll do here, instead. Sorry, blog friends. :)

Urine is relatively sterile. It is the ahem... "other number" that is full of bacterias, and are a _very_ serious threat to health.

It reminded me of the things my dad taught me when I was a little kid. We enjoy camping, hiking and spending a lot of time in the forest. So I learn that urine can save my life.

If I'm lost in the forest and I'm running out of water... I can drink my own juice. This will keep me alive 'til rescue comes in.

Also, if I get hurt, I can disinfect wounds with urine.

So to me, urine isn't the dirty thing, nor such a big laughing matter. Besides, as a guy who has to do his Kegel exercises... Sometimes I despise this western world that makes life miserable to those like me who have a weak bladder!

Western world... Sometimes I'm ashamed that the world I'm in, is dominant. Everything is compared to our standards... and when they do not meet our standards...

Sheesh, we're no reference of excellence, I'd say...

In the Eastern world, from India to Japan... urine gets part of some rituals. If you're familiar with Buddism, or if you do yoga or other kinds of meditation, you may have already heard of that. People do drink their own juice or the one of their partner. We're talking of rituals that exist for hundreds if not thousands of years. To say the least, that deserves... respect, don't you think?

In our twisted western world, people who are into "watersports", some would also do that as well. Here, it gets decoded as that big exotic thing to do...

The point is... millions of humans are still alive, and healthy. Physically and mentally. :)

The glass of water that you're holding... especially if this is tap water, most Canadian towns and cities get their water from rivers , so where do you think that water comes from? You can bet that some toilets have been flushed upstreams...

The "space toilet" is just a much closer loop of the waste to water cycle, and this is what makes people in the western world uncomfortable. :)

One has to realize that in space, there isn't a seemingly infinite amount of resources like on earth. You can't ship easily to the Space Station a 6-month supply of water for the entire crew. So, imagine a 2-year round trip to Mars.

So, in space, you *must* recycle, and as much as you can...

I'm not a doctor, but I've some concerns about such a *very short* close loop. Urine is relatively sterile. Relatively is the keyword. :)

This is an extreme case, but someone who is HIV+, it is known that the virus will be present in *all* bodily fluids, including urine. There are other virii that could be present. So there's a certain risk of drinking others' juice.

While I assume that being in good health is a requirement for any space travel, I do hope their "space toilet" will make a good job of killing virii and bacterias.

And that's my 2-cent comment on this subject...

Oh... an additional 2-cent... about the frustration that some topics can't be discussed seriously. Are we too... immature? Sometimes, I wonder.

Sheesh...

-E
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Links:
Drinking Pee (highly informative, and there are some interesting links. )

Watersport Training Manual (the title says all. The best article I've found on the 'Net that describes what is "watersport" that is both informative and will not hurt too much your feelings)

From the NASA web site (a bit outdated but always informative): Water on the space station and Plumbing the Space Station .