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all right so so with that it's a good

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way to end our conversation because it

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is now time to introduce you to

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um our public affairs officer brandy

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dean and our special guest dan gazda who

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is a chemist here at the johnson space

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center so mission control i introduced

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you to st peter's preparatory high

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school

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hi thanks so much and welcome to the

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mission control here in houston we're in

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the international space station flight

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control room

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and like you said i have with me dan

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gasta who is an environmental scientist

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and chemist so hopefully i know y'all

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send in a few uh questions ahead of time

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a lot uh you're studying chemistry and

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hopefully he'll be able to help you with

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that but first i'm going to let him tell

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you a little bit about who he is and

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what he does

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yes as you mentioned my name is dan

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gazda i work in the human health and

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performance directorate here at jsc

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i'm an environmental scientist in the

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water and food analytical lab and our

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primary responsibilities are supporting

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the environmental health systems and the

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environmental control and life support

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systems on iss

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all right well thanks so much for

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joining us dan we really appreciate it

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and i guess if y'all want to start with

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oh um the lady that spoke to us uh prior

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to you guys um she said that um on space

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some medals are made that

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wouldn't be able to be made on earth

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what happens if you bring those medals

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that can only be made

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in space

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to earth like would they you know

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come apart or something like that

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or what what would happen or would they

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generally speaking once uh

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you when you're in the microgravity

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environment you're able to do things

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that you can't do

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in a terrestrial laboratory here on

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earth and so

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with metals you can alloy metals and mix

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them in unique ratios to achieve desired

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properties

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so you can mix these things in space and

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and allow them to form

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with uh the specific ratios and the

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alloy but once they're formed they

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should be locked into place so they can

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um i was just wondering uh like how

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close are we to

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like sustaining a community in space

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like in the movie like wally like where

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they had a big ship and they can go like

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how close

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closer uh than we were several years ago

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uh one of the exciting things the some

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of the exciting progress that we've made

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in the past couple of years is really

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moving towards a closed-loop life

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support system on the space station

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where we're now

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recovering water from urine

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and

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scrubbing the atmosphere

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recovering some water through a sabati a

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process and what this does this

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dramatically reduces our reliance on

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ground supplied resources

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and does move us closer to

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having the ability to sustain

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a population of folks out in space on a

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long duration mission

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without having to constantly resupply

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things from the ground

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and i think i don't know necessarily

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about wally but although it's a great

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movie we do get a lot of inspiration

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from science fiction and occasionally

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movies right there are a lot of folks

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working at nasa who definitely

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watched a lot of science fiction

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definitely and there are certain aspects

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of science fiction that

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are more realistic than others

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um what materials were used in the

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astronaut suits to ensure their safety

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like

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i'm guessing they have some pretty high

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end insulation because our hair space is

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pretty cold

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and like also what material is used to

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block radiation because that could be

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yes i'm not

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i'm not familiar with the exact

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materials that go into

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the outer shell of the extra vehicular

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mobility units the emu's those are the

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suits that the the astronauts wear

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during during spacewalks or evas the

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extra vehicular activities

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they are

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multi-layer materials so what you have

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is a unique combination of many

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materials stacked on top of each other

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to provide the desired characteristics

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and ensure crew safety during spacewalks

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they do

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have certain materials in the suit that

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reduce the radiation exposure but when

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you're in space the radiation exposure

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is going to be higher than it is on the

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ground

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and i think they also have uh at least

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in their their gloves heaters that help

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them keep formulas about insulation um

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it definitely does get very cold in

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space and you especially want your hands

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to be warm because you work a lot with

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your hands so to help them keep from

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getting stiff fingers they they have

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heaters inside their gloves yeah they

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actually have some some very unique

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undergarments for the spacesuits called

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liquid cooling and ventilation garments

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that

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look a lot like thermal underwear but

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they have very small diameter tubing

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that liquid circulates through and

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passes through a heat exchanger that

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helps regulate the temperature inside

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the suits because you also get hot in

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space when the sun is on you so you have

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to be ready for both really really cold

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temperatures and really really hot

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hi i'm just curious uh with

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for instance the space station

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uh using propulsion systems in space

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since there's not a lot to push off of

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uh that one is probably going to be

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pretty far outside my area of expertise

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uh in general you do have

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you have an inertial mass from the

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vehicle itself

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that you push against

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so there there is a mass to overcome

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there but uh

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how the systems exactly work is is

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outside of my area of expertise and i

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think we can say though that it takes a

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lot less force to move you in space just

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uh you you can see it on the

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international space station if you watch

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nasa tv um the astronauts can push off

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with just you know a finger and keep

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going for a long time so it takes a lot

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less energy to move

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at all and so that that at least helps

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us getting around in space once we've

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gotten out of the earth's atmosphere

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which certainly does take a lot of

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thrust

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yeah once you don't have to overcome the

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gravitational vector you can expend a

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lot less energy moving and translating

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hopefully that helps answer your

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question

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i just gotta ask because i know that

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they wear suits and but with the systems

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itself on the station how do you defend

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against

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solar flares that could also hurt the

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magnetics within the systems or the

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the

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space station are

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tested extensively and there are

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specific precautions that are taken uh

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to protect against ionizing radiation

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events uh with the the crew themselves

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there are certain instances where

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um

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you know they they locate in certain

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areas of the station uh occasionally

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they they locate in the water the water

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storage area because water ends up being

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a great shield for radiation

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uh so we have large bags of water that

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we use to to maintain a contingency

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reserve and sometimes the crew will will

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sleep in the proximity of those

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and we basically have space weathermen

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who let us know when there's going to be

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a lot of activity that we want to

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protect the astronauts from so that

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helps us know when we need to maybe get

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them into an area like

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dan said that has a little bit more

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um

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as an event an environmental scientist

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what is what is one of the most

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interesting side effects of being in

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i would say that probably the most

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interesting

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aspect of

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maintaining environmental control

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systems in space

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is the lack of phase separation that you

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have when you're outside of the

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or when you're in a microgravity

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environment

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so for a water system for example which

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is one of the things that i'm the most

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familiar with

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on the ground you don't get too

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concerned about air bubbles being

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entrapped in the water supply because

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they always rise to the surface well the

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reason the bubbles rise to the surface

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is because the gas is less dense than

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the liquid and in a gravitational field

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it moves to the top

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in the absence of that gravitational

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field all the air bubbles stay entrained

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in the body of the liquid and that can

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pose a lot of problems for fluid

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um i was watching something and i read

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an article that there is uh

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over the last 60 or 50 years or so there

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have been a lot of satellites

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uh put up in that are just floating down

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earth orbit i think the number was like

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there's about 50 000

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of them and only about 1 000 are

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actually functioning so they deem those

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you know dead satellites space junk is

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there any like efforts being used to

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clean that up because they do pose a

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problem especially for the international

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again i'm not aware of efforts i know

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it's definitely something that is

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tracked very closely uh because folks

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always want to know if any of the the

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orbital debris is going to pose a risk

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to the station right and we have a team

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here on the ground that lets us know if

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there's any uh debris which is what we

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call it um

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it's going to get anywhere near the

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space station and if we need to we move

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the space station around to avoid it um

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but as far as cleaning up i know we're

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looking into different ideas and and

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hopefully are going to come up with an

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effort just because like you said

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there's there's it's getting to the

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point where there's so much of it in

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space but a lot of it takes care of

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itself it all eventually continues to

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lower in orbit and then usually burns up

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in the earth's atmosphere before it

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falls down so

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given enough time it'll it'll take care

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of itself but there's so much of it like

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you said that we do want to try and find

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some other way to help out with the

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what new chemical discoveries have been

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new chemical discoveries um

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there there's a lot of interesting

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phenomenon that have been observed

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in space a lot of them relating to the

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the behavior of materials outside of uh

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or in the absence of gravity there's

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been a lot of studies done on protein

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crystallization that they've seen some

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00:11:23,990 --> 00:11:22,959
very novel

285
00:11:25,910 --> 00:11:24,000
uh

286
00:11:28,550 --> 00:11:25,920
crystallographic patterns that form in

287
00:11:30,230 --> 00:11:28,560
the absence of gravity

288
00:11:31,590 --> 00:11:30,240
and there's uh probably some of the

289
00:11:33,350 --> 00:11:31,600
other things that that have come about

290
00:11:35,030 --> 00:11:33,360
would really be material compatibility

291
00:11:37,590 --> 00:11:35,040
issues and

292
00:11:38,550 --> 00:11:37,600
exposure issues that things designed for

293
00:11:40,870 --> 00:11:38,560
space to

294
00:11:43,509 --> 00:11:40,880
to to tolerate the harsh environment of

295
00:11:45,110 --> 00:11:43,519
space then come back and find

296
00:11:56,470 --> 00:11:45,120
applications in extreme environments on

297
00:12:02,150 --> 00:11:57,670
hi

298
00:12:04,230 --> 00:12:02,160
than a science question

299
00:12:05,509 --> 00:12:04,240
with um with our government 16 trillion

300
00:12:07,829 --> 00:12:05,519
dollars in debt

301
00:12:10,069 --> 00:12:07,839
we the government funds

302
00:12:12,870 --> 00:12:10,079
nasa and you know spends billions of

303
00:12:18,230 --> 00:12:12,880
dollars a year on it why do you think

304
00:12:23,269 --> 00:12:20,069
that's a great question

305
00:12:25,110 --> 00:12:23,279
overall when you look at the

306
00:12:27,910 --> 00:12:25,120
the federal budget nasa is a very small

307
00:12:29,910 --> 00:12:27,920
line item in the big picture and

308
00:12:32,389 --> 00:12:29,920
the the work that is done here is work

309
00:12:33,509 --> 00:12:32,399
that isn't done anywhere else and does

310
00:12:35,269 --> 00:12:33,519
have

311
00:12:36,870 --> 00:12:35,279
direct applications not to the ground

312
00:12:38,470 --> 00:12:36,880
you know it's it's fundamental science

313
00:12:40,629 --> 00:12:38,480
that benefits

314
00:12:41,590 --> 00:12:40,639
benefits everybody so

315
00:12:44,310 --> 00:12:41,600
myself

316
00:12:45,750 --> 00:12:44,320
i work in the the aerospace industry i'm

317
00:12:48,150 --> 00:12:45,760
an advocate for the aerospace industry

318
00:12:49,829 --> 00:12:48,160
and i think it's money well spent

319
00:12:52,550 --> 00:12:49,839
i definitely agree

320
00:12:54,949 --> 00:12:52,560
you're right it certainly is a lot of

321
00:12:56,949 --> 00:12:54,959
money to an individual like us but like

322
00:12:59,430 --> 00:12:56,959
dan said in the big picture you really

323
00:13:01,509 --> 00:12:59,440
don't spend a lot on nasa itself less

324
00:13:03,190 --> 00:13:01,519
than one percent of the national budget

325
00:13:13,670 --> 00:13:03,200
and i think we get a lot of bang for the

326
00:13:18,949 --> 00:13:15,910
hi um i was wondering like in the event

327
00:13:21,350 --> 00:13:18,959
of emergency on the space station like

328
00:13:23,670 --> 00:13:21,360
uh like running out of food or not being

329
00:13:25,509 --> 00:13:23,680
able to get back to earth does nasa have

330
00:13:28,470 --> 00:13:25,519
any like plans

331
00:13:30,629 --> 00:13:28,480
in the case of emergency like that

332
00:13:32,870 --> 00:13:30,639
uh there there are contingencies there

333
00:13:35,350 --> 00:13:32,880
are plans in place to cover for just

334
00:13:37,350 --> 00:13:35,360
about every conceivable contingency that

335
00:13:40,629 --> 00:13:37,360
the crew would encounter

336
00:13:42,310 --> 00:13:40,639
with regard to to critical uh consumable

337
00:13:44,069 --> 00:13:42,320
items like food and water

338
00:13:46,470 --> 00:13:44,079
there is a reserve that's maintained it

339
00:13:48,470 --> 00:13:46,480
usually varies between 45 and 90 days

340
00:13:51,189 --> 00:13:48,480
that if the crew were cut off or if

341
00:13:53,590 --> 00:13:51,199
there was a resupply slip there are

342
00:13:56,310 --> 00:13:53,600
spares pre-positioned to sustain the

343
00:13:58,790 --> 00:13:56,320
crew during that that

344
00:14:01,110 --> 00:13:58,800
that launch delay um and there are

345
00:14:03,350 --> 00:14:01,120
evacuation plans that that are in place

346
00:14:05,110 --> 00:14:03,360
that if a critical life support system

347
00:14:06,710 --> 00:14:05,120
were to be compromised

348
00:14:19,030 --> 00:14:06,720
there there are plans to get the crew

349
00:14:24,949 --> 00:14:21,590
the woman previously talked to us said

350
00:14:27,670 --> 00:14:24,959
that occasionally uh or not occasionally

351
00:14:28,550 --> 00:14:27,680
but astronauts are astronauts in

352
00:14:31,750 --> 00:14:28,560
training

353
00:14:33,829 --> 00:14:31,760
have to train for evacuation plans if

354
00:14:35,350 --> 00:14:33,839
they actually had to evacuate the space

355
00:14:37,829 --> 00:14:35,360
station

356
00:14:40,069 --> 00:14:37,839
uh just for something

357
00:14:44,629 --> 00:14:40,079
then they couldn't get to the right

358
00:14:49,350 --> 00:14:47,189
well so they're actually they're um

359
00:14:51,670 --> 00:14:49,360
basically their lifeboats um are the

360
00:14:53,670 --> 00:14:51,680
soyuz vehicles that they came to earth

361
00:14:56,150 --> 00:14:53,680
in or came to the space station in so

362
00:14:57,910 --> 00:14:56,160
they would just get back to those um and

363
00:14:59,990 --> 00:14:57,920
get out of the space station and undock

364
00:15:02,389 --> 00:15:00,000
from the space station and use those to

365
00:15:05,750 --> 00:15:02,399
land in where they actually land in

366
00:15:07,829 --> 00:15:05,760
kazakhstan so it's a big

367
00:15:09,829 --> 00:15:07,839
desert area there's plenty of room for

368
00:15:11,110 --> 00:15:09,839
them to land and they would have time

369
00:15:12,710 --> 00:15:11,120
once they got away from the space

370
00:15:13,910 --> 00:15:12,720
station to kind of plan their landing

371
00:15:25,030 --> 00:15:13,920
and make sure they ended up in the right

372
00:15:29,430 --> 00:15:27,269
specifically how did you choose your

373
00:15:33,509 --> 00:15:29,440
career and uh what steps did you have to

374
00:15:35,189 --> 00:15:33,519
take to become part of nasa

375
00:15:36,389 --> 00:15:35,199
uh

376
00:15:39,509 --> 00:15:36,399
it's an interesting question because i

377
00:15:41,350 --> 00:15:39,519
didn't really choose my career it

378
00:15:42,710 --> 00:15:41,360
chose me

379
00:15:45,670 --> 00:15:42,720
to some extent

380
00:15:47,430 --> 00:15:45,680
when i started off in college i actually

381
00:15:48,949 --> 00:15:47,440
wanted to be a physical therapist and

382
00:15:50,470 --> 00:15:48,959
was taking

383
00:15:51,910 --> 00:15:50,480
a lot of biology courses or trying to

384
00:15:53,910 --> 00:15:51,920
take a lot of biology courses that i got

385
00:15:55,430 --> 00:15:53,920
blocked out of and my advisor at the

386
00:15:56,870 --> 00:15:55,440
time told me that i might as well take

387
00:15:58,629 --> 00:15:56,880
chemistry because that was going to be a

388
00:16:00,550 --> 00:15:58,639
requirement as well

389
00:16:03,189 --> 00:16:00,560
i started taking my chemistry sequences

390
00:16:05,189 --> 00:16:03,199
through college and ended up taking an

391
00:16:07,430 --> 00:16:05,199
instrumental analysis and quantitati

392
00:16:09,030 --> 00:16:07,440
quantitative analysis class my freshman

393
00:16:10,790 --> 00:16:09,040
year which

394
00:16:13,269 --> 00:16:10,800
really exposed me for the first time to

395
00:16:15,269 --> 00:16:13,279
using instrumentation to make chemical

396
00:16:16,389 --> 00:16:15,279
measurements and characterize different

397
00:16:17,670 --> 00:16:16,399
materials

398
00:16:19,030 --> 00:16:17,680
and that just really intrigued me and i

399
00:16:21,189 --> 00:16:19,040
stuck with it from there

400
00:16:22,949 --> 00:16:21,199
once i got my undergraduate degree

401
00:16:25,189 --> 00:16:22,959
i went on to

402
00:16:27,430 --> 00:16:25,199
get a phd at iowa state

403
00:16:29,110 --> 00:16:27,440
up in ames and the professor that i

404
00:16:31,189 --> 00:16:29,120
worked for at iowa state

405
00:16:32,949 --> 00:16:31,199
was working on a nasa research grant to

406
00:16:35,030 --> 00:16:32,959
develop water quality monitoring systems

407
00:16:36,710 --> 00:16:35,040
for the space station so while i was in

408
00:16:38,389 --> 00:16:36,720
grad school i

409
00:16:40,310 --> 00:16:38,399
started working on that project and was

410
00:16:42,150 --> 00:16:40,320
able to directly transition that to my

411
00:16:43,590 --> 00:16:42,160
job down here at jsc

412
00:16:45,590 --> 00:16:43,600
i think you hear that from a lot of the

413
00:16:47,350 --> 00:16:45,600
engineers and scientists who work at

414
00:16:49,350 --> 00:16:47,360
nasa and i've also you know talked with

415
00:16:51,430 --> 00:16:49,360
astronauts about that before as well

416
00:16:53,110 --> 00:16:51,440
they all say that what you should do is

417
00:16:54,949 --> 00:16:53,120
find something that you love doing so

418
00:16:56,629 --> 00:16:54,959
that you will be

419
00:16:58,230 --> 00:16:56,639
inspired to be good at it and then that

420
00:17:01,269 --> 00:16:58,240
will help you end up where you want to

421
00:17:02,949 --> 00:17:01,279
go which hopefully could be nasa and for

422
00:17:04,630 --> 00:17:02,959
myself you know i

423
00:17:06,949 --> 00:17:04,640
i work in the public affairs office at

424
00:17:09,189 --> 00:17:06,959
nasa and uh started out as a

425
00:17:11,429 --> 00:17:09,199
newspaper reporter and uh

426
00:17:13,590 --> 00:17:11,439
and finding um even though i never

427
00:17:15,270 --> 00:17:13,600
intended to use it the science classes

428
00:17:17,350 --> 00:17:15,280
that i took when i was in high school

429
00:17:18,949 --> 00:17:17,360
and college are really helpful for me

430
00:17:20,390 --> 00:17:18,959
now and kind of knowing what the

431
00:17:37,350 --> 00:17:20,400
scientists and engineers are talking

432
00:17:43,029 --> 00:17:38,950
would you be able to explain how the the

433
00:17:46,470 --> 00:17:45,750
which moisture system or do you mean the

434
00:17:58,470 --> 00:17:46,480
the

435
00:18:00,870 --> 00:17:58,480
astronauts water

436
00:18:02,710 --> 00:18:00,880
yeah so what we have um there's two

437
00:18:03,590 --> 00:18:02,720
components to the water recovery you do

438
00:18:06,390 --> 00:18:03,600
have

439
00:18:07,590 --> 00:18:06,400
condensing heat exchangers so these are

440
00:18:09,510 --> 00:18:07,600
actually very similar to what you have

441
00:18:11,590 --> 00:18:09,520
in commercial and residential air

442
00:18:15,909 --> 00:18:11,600
conditioning units on the ground

443
00:18:17,750 --> 00:18:15,919
where water condenses on the surface of

444
00:18:20,630 --> 00:18:17,760
these heat exchangers it's then drawn

445
00:18:22,470 --> 00:18:20,640
into the water processor assembly

446
00:18:24,470 --> 00:18:22,480
that atmospheric condensate that's

447
00:18:26,830 --> 00:18:24,480
collected is combined with distillate

448
00:18:29,350 --> 00:18:26,840
from the urine processor assembly

449
00:18:31,510 --> 00:18:29,360
to provide the feedstock for the water

450
00:18:33,750 --> 00:18:31,520
processor the water processor itself

451
00:18:35,029 --> 00:18:33,760
uses a combination of processes to to

452
00:18:37,990 --> 00:18:35,039
polish that

453
00:18:40,470 --> 00:18:38,000
combination of distillate and

454
00:18:42,789 --> 00:18:40,480
condensate back into potable water

455
00:18:45,430 --> 00:18:42,799
it uses high temperature oxidation

456
00:18:47,430 --> 00:18:45,440
uh ion exchange uh there's some some

457
00:18:49,830 --> 00:18:47,440
carbon sorbent beds and then the final

458
00:18:52,310 --> 00:18:49,840
step uh before the the water goes into

459
00:18:55,029 --> 00:18:52,320
the storage tank uh for to supply the

460
00:18:57,029 --> 00:18:55,039
crew is addition of uh of a biocide

461
00:18:58,470 --> 00:18:57,039
which we use molecular iodine in the u.s

462
00:19:00,710 --> 00:18:58,480
segment of the states of the space

463
00:19:01,830 --> 00:19:00,720
station and what that does is inhibits

464
00:19:07,830 --> 00:19:01,840
bacterial growth while the water is

465
00:19:11,350 --> 00:19:09,669
on the space station how are we is it

466
00:19:14,549 --> 00:19:11,360
simpler on earth for people in third

467
00:19:17,909 --> 00:19:15,990
is it similar to what people in third

468
00:19:21,990 --> 00:19:17,919
world countries could use is that what

469
00:19:28,310 --> 00:19:22,870
the

470
00:19:29,830 --> 00:19:28,320
water

471
00:19:32,789 --> 00:19:29,840
yes are the same processes that you

472
00:19:35,669 --> 00:19:32,799
would use on the ground to take

473
00:19:37,750 --> 00:19:35,679
water or any contaminated water support

474
00:19:39,590 --> 00:19:37,760
water source and bring it back to it to

475
00:19:42,310 --> 00:19:39,600
a state that could be safe for uh for

476
00:19:45,110 --> 00:19:42,320
human consumption of course with nasa

477
00:19:46,470 --> 00:19:45,120
the specific systems that we employ

478
00:19:48,710 --> 00:19:46,480
are

479
00:19:50,390 --> 00:19:48,720
purpose built to operate in space so

480
00:19:51,350 --> 00:19:50,400
there wouldn't necessarily be the best

481
00:19:53,110 --> 00:19:51,360
answer

482
00:19:54,870 --> 00:19:53,120
for a third world country

483
00:19:57,430 --> 00:19:54,880
the they're also

484
00:19:59,350 --> 00:19:57,440
built to sustain six crew at a time not

485
00:20:01,270 --> 00:19:59,360
a village of hundreds of people but the

486
00:20:02,630 --> 00:20:01,280
basic principles behind water recovery

487
00:20:04,789 --> 00:20:02,640
are exactly the same

488
00:20:06,310 --> 00:20:04,799
and we have engineers who work on the

489
00:20:08,149 --> 00:20:06,320
the water recovery systems that we use

490
00:20:10,070 --> 00:20:08,159
in space who also volunteer their time

491
00:20:12,070 --> 00:20:10,080
to build systems that can work in third

492
00:20:13,909 --> 00:20:12,080
world countries and go out and help

493
00:20:15,750 --> 00:20:13,919
build them in the third world countries

494
00:20:20,149 --> 00:20:15,760
on in some occasions and

495
00:20:24,470 --> 00:20:21,669
during ventilation process with the

496
00:20:26,870 --> 00:20:24,480
water when you you only take out the h2o

497
00:20:29,029 --> 00:20:26,880
and take out everything else or you

498
00:20:30,950 --> 00:20:29,039
separate h2o and the nutrients needed

499
00:20:33,190 --> 00:20:30,960
for our body and dispose of the acids

500
00:20:35,830 --> 00:20:33,200
and chemicals from our uh from our

501
00:20:37,590 --> 00:20:35,840
systems

502
00:20:41,270 --> 00:20:37,600
with the

503
00:20:44,230 --> 00:20:41,280
condensing heat exchangers you actually

504
00:20:46,390 --> 00:20:44,240
condense water along with any volatile

505
00:20:48,070 --> 00:20:46,400
organic compounds that could be present

506
00:20:49,830 --> 00:20:48,080
along with some dissolved minerals that

507
00:20:51,830 --> 00:20:49,840
may be present in tiny micro droplets of

508
00:20:53,430 --> 00:20:51,840
water that exist

509
00:20:54,470 --> 00:20:53,440
and there's there are metabolic

510
00:20:56,470 --> 00:20:54,480
components that come from the crew

511
00:20:58,789 --> 00:20:56,480
living and exercising in space that you

512
00:21:01,350 --> 00:20:58,799
condense in that

513
00:21:03,909 --> 00:21:01,360
in that moisture when you go through the

514
00:21:05,350 --> 00:21:03,919
the water recovery process

515
00:21:09,270 --> 00:21:05,360
a lot of those contaminants are either

516
00:21:12,149 --> 00:21:10,630
in the catalytic reactor which is the

517
00:21:14,310 --> 00:21:12,159
oxidation unit they're actually broken

518
00:21:16,470 --> 00:21:14,320
down to co2 and bicarbonate and then

519
00:21:18,789 --> 00:21:16,480
scrubbed out using ion exchange beds

520
00:21:19,669 --> 00:21:18,799
in the urine processor assembly when

521
00:21:21,350 --> 00:21:19,679
we're

522
00:21:24,310 --> 00:21:21,360
distilling the urine and bringing over

523
00:21:27,190 --> 00:21:24,320
the distillate there's actually a brine

524
00:21:29,990 --> 00:21:27,200
left that's a concentrated high ionic

525
00:21:31,590 --> 00:21:30,000
strength solution that's discarded uh in

526
00:21:33,669 --> 00:21:31,600
the uh the progress vehicles and burned

527
00:21:35,909 --> 00:21:33,679
up

528
00:21:37,669 --> 00:21:35,919
oh so so makes because they said it's

529
00:21:40,870 --> 00:21:37,679
purer than the water that we have today

530
00:21:42,310 --> 00:21:40,880
and we use just like similar uh

531
00:21:44,549 --> 00:21:42,320
nutrients to make sure our water is

532
00:21:46,149 --> 00:21:44,559
cleaner so you use more uh concentrated

533
00:21:48,070 --> 00:21:46,159
ones you're saying then

534
00:21:49,830 --> 00:21:48,080
no the the water that the the water

535
00:21:52,149 --> 00:21:49,840
that's produced on the space station is

536
00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:52,159
ultra pure water it is

537
00:21:56,149 --> 00:21:54,240
much much cleaner than than the water

538
00:21:59,190 --> 00:21:56,159
that most of us have have access to in

539
00:22:00,310 --> 00:21:59,200
the taps in our house

540
00:22:03,110 --> 00:22:00,320
the

541
00:22:06,390 --> 00:22:03,120
what you need to remember is that in a

542
00:22:09,669 --> 00:22:06,400
on earth the water supply contains a lot

543
00:22:11,510 --> 00:22:09,679
of runoff from agriculture and industry

544
00:22:13,590 --> 00:22:11,520
that adds contaminants into the water

545
00:22:15,750 --> 00:22:13,600
that have to be removed with much more

546
00:22:17,909 --> 00:22:15,760
difficult processes on the space station

547
00:22:19,909 --> 00:22:17,919
we're fortunate in that the number of

548
00:22:21,510 --> 00:22:19,919
contaminants that we have to deal with

549
00:22:23,430 --> 00:22:21,520
are fairly limited because it's a

550
00:22:25,430 --> 00:22:23,440
closed-loop environment we're not using

551
00:22:27,110 --> 00:22:25,440
fertilizers we don't have large

552
00:22:29,430 --> 00:22:27,120
industrial or large industrial

553
00:22:31,830 --> 00:22:29,440
operations or agricultural operations so

554
00:22:33,669 --> 00:22:31,840
we're really dealing with

555
00:22:35,590 --> 00:22:33,679
the metabolic load from the from the

556
00:22:36,870 --> 00:22:35,600
astronauts and then some of the

557
00:22:38,149 --> 00:22:36,880
off-gassing components from the

558
00:22:39,990 --> 00:22:38,159
materials and the products that they use

559
00:22:41,990 --> 00:22:40,000
in space another good reason to be an

560
00:22:44,230 --> 00:22:42,000
astronaut right you get cleaner water

561
00:22:51,110 --> 00:22:44,240
absolutely

562
00:22:54,230 --> 00:22:52,630
i think that's about all the questions

563
00:22:56,630 --> 00:22:54,240
we have time for at this time thank you

564
00:22:58,070 --> 00:22:56,640
so much dan for joining us we really

565
00:22:59,430 --> 00:22:58,080
appreciate you taking the time to answer

566
00:23:00,870 --> 00:22:59,440
some of these questions with us and

567
00:23:02,870 --> 00:23:00,880
thanks so much to the students we

568
00:23:04,390 --> 00:23:02,880
enjoyed talking with you hope we

569
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were helpful and we're able to answer a