Phase III Integrated Water Recovery Testing at MSFC: International Space Station Recipient Mode Test Results and Lessons Learned

A test has been completed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to evaluate the Water Recovery and Management (WRM) system and Waste Management (WM) urinal design for the United States On-Orbit Segment (USOS) of the International Space Station (ISS). Potable and urine reclamation processors were integrated with waste water generation equipment and successfully operated for a total of 128 days in recipient mode configuration to evaluate the accumulation of contaminants in the water system and to assess the performance of various modifications to the WRM and WM hardware. No accumulation of contaminants were detected in the product water over the course of the recipient mode test. An additional 18 days were conducted in donor mode to assess the ability of the system to removal viral contaminants, to monitor the breakthrough of organic contaminants through the multifiltration bed, and for resolving anomalies that occurred during the test. An Oxygen Generator Assembly was integrated with the WRM to evaluate the compatibility of the hardware with the WP product water. Following the completion of Stage 10, two additional tests were conducted to verify the operation of the Water Processor in the ISS Early Habitation Configuration and to assess the performance of the Water Processor when processing high concentrations of ethylene glycol. This paper summarizes the test objectives, system design, test activities and protocols, significant results, anomalies and major lessons learned.