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On the International Space Station (ISS), atmospheric humidity condensate and other waste waters will be recycled and treated to produce potable water for use by the crews. Space station requirements include an on-orbit capability for real-time monitoring of key water quality parameters, such as total organic carbon, total inorganic carbon, total carbon, pH, and conductivity, to ensure that crew health is protected for consumption of reclaimed water. The Crew Health Care System for ISS includes a total organic carbon (TOC) analyzer that is currently being designed to meet this requirement. As part of the effort, a spacecraft TOC analyzer was developed to demonstrate the technology in microgravity and mitigate risks associated with its use on station. This analyzer was successfully tested on Shuttle during the STS-81 mission as a risk mitigation experiment. A total of six ground-prepared test samples and two Mir potable water samples were analyzed in flight during the 10-day mission.

Disinfection of water and wastewater was proven to be feasible using a Breadboard Electrochemical Ozone Generator (EOG). A static gas/liquid separator, containing a microporous, hydrophobic membrane, was tested with the Breadboard EOG, and was found to increase the concentration of the ozone (O3) dissolved in the water. Distilled water and selected wastewaters were disinfected, achieving dissolved O3 concentrations up to 3 mg/L. The hardware is capable of operating in 0-g and 1-g environments. An end-item Electrochemical Ozonator (EO), sized to disinfect 116 kg of potable water per day, was projected to weigh 1.2 kg and consume only 18.5 W.

A Total Organic Carbon (TOC) Analyzer has been developed for a Life Sciences Risk Mitigation Flight Experiment to be conducted on Spacehab and the Russian space station, Mir. Initial launch is scheduled for December 1996 (flight STS-81). The analyzer will be tested on the Orbiter in the Spacehab module, including when the Orbiter is docked at the Mir space station. The analyzer is scheduled to be launched again in May 1997 (STS-84) when it will be transferred to Mir. During both flights the analyzer will measure the quality of recycled and ground-supplied potable water on the space station. Samples will be archived for later return to the ground, where they will be analyzed for comparison to in-flight results. Water test samples of known composition, brought up with the analyzer, also will be used to test its performance in microgravity. Ground-based analyses of duplicates of those test samples will be conducted concurrently with the in-flight analyses.

Cooperation between Russia and the United States on manned spaceflight has led to unprecedented openness, resulting in the ability to now compare the characteristics of environmental control/life support hardware selected to generate oxygen (O2) by water electrolysis for space station applications. This comparison in this paper focuses on the characteristics that have the greatest effect on the cost of assembling and maintaining the hardware in space: launch weight, volume, power consumption, resupply requirements and maintenance labor.